Zak Mir talks to Segun Lawson, CEO of Thor Explorations. The company provided an operational and financial review for its Segilola Gold mine in Nigeria and for its mineral exploration properties in Nigeria, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire for the three months ending December 31, 2024, and the audited financial results for the year ending December 31, 2024.
Thor Explorations Ltd. (TSXV / AIM: THX) is pleased to provide an operational and financial review for its Segilola Gold mine, located in Nigeria (“Segilola”), and for the Company’s mineral exploration properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire for the three months ending December 31, 2024 (“Q4 2024”) and the audited financial results for the year ending December 31, 2024 (the “Year” or “FY 2024”).
The Company’s Consolidated Audited Financial Statements together with the notes related thereto, as well as the Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the year ending December 31, 2024, are available on Thor Explorations’ website at https://thorexpl.com/investors/financials/.
All figures are in US dollars (“US$”) unless otherwise stated.
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FY 2024 Financial Highlights
· 84,965 ounces (“oz”) of gold sold (FY 2023:73,356 oz) with an average gold price of US$2,288 per oz (FY 2023:US$1,907).
· Cash operating cost of US$575 per oz sold (FY 2023:US$1,006) and all-in sustaining cost (“AISC”) of US$765 per oz sold (FY 2023:US$1,313).
· FY 2024 revenue of US$193.1 million (“m”) (FY 2023: US$141.2 million).
· FY 2024 EBITDA of US$133.3 million (FY 2023:US$55.3 million).
· FY 2024 net profit of US$91.1 million (FY 2023: US$10.8 million).
· FY 2024 cash and cash equivalents of US$12 million (FY 2023: US$7.8 million)
· The Group made a final payment of $4.1 million towards its senior debt facility with Africa Finance Corporation (“AFC”). Following this repayment, the Group has fully settled its senior debt obligations.
· Net cash of US$11.2 million (FY 2023: Net debt of US$15.9 million).
· Maiden dividend payment and dividend policy of minimum of C$0.0125 per share per quarter (C$0.05 per year)
Dividend
· The Board has adopted a dividend policy to be applied for at least the next two years. The dividend policy reflects the Board’s aim to strike a balance between the Group’s growth ambitions and returning money to the Group’s shareholders.
· Dividends will normally be paid on a quarterly basis at an amount of C$0.0125 per share each quarter, with the ability to increase the dividend amount based on the Group’s cash reserves at the end of each quarter.
· The first dividend will be payable on 16 May 2025 for shareholders on record at 02 May 2025.
· It is currently intended that the dividend policy will be reviewed in two years, taking into consideration factors such as the extension of the Segilola Mine Life and capital commitments to near term development projects.
Segun Lawson, President & CEO, stated
“I am pleased with our performance and progress as a Group in 2024 where we generated record revenues from our Segilola Gold mine whilst being disciplined in our cost control and focusing on our ESG commitments.
Our primary objectives in 2024 were to fully repay our senior debt facility and strengthen our balance sheet. This was achieved whilst also expanding our exploration portfolio in Nigeria, Senegal and in Côte d’Ivoire. The Group is now strongly positioned for a new dynamic phase with big increases budgeted in our exploration expenditure around Segilola and also across our entire portfolio, all funded by strong cash flow at Segilola. Since the end of 2024, we have continued to strengthen our balance sheet and grow our cash balance whilst making further material improvements on our accounts payable position.
We are pleased to announce our dividend policy and maiden dividend. The announcement is a major milestone for Thor in our company’s evolution and validates our confidence in the overall strength and sustainability of our business. Our dividend policy demonstrates our dedication to returning part of our strong cash flow generation to shareholders without forgoing our ability to self-fund our growth.
In 2025, the Group’s strategy will be focussed on increasing shareholder value by extending the Segilola mine life and advancing the Douta Project in Senegal. At the same time, we are encouraged by the early exploration results on our newly assembled portfolio in Côte d’Ivoire. We look forward to advancing these projects through 2025.
The Douta Gold Project, which now consists of two prospective licences, remains a project which we aim to build from within our organic portfolio. We look forward to advancing this key project of ours through 2025.
Furthermore, in 2024, we continued to capitalise on our first mover advantage in Nigeria through the acquisition of prospective exploration ground in Ondo State, approximately 55 kilometres due south of Segilola. We are well positioned to carry out exploration at a faster rate than ever before and without the constraints of servicing our senior debt facility.
At the forefront of our operations, Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) standards have not been compromised with the Group winning a number of awards in 2024. Thor published its maiden Sustainability and ESG Report 2023 in November 2024. We invite our stakeholders to review this report. The information within the report is in alignment with GRI reporting standards. ESG data has also been consistently gathered during 2024 with the 2024 Sustainability Report due in Q2 2025.
We were pleased in March 2025 to receive a copy of the report of the Inter-Ministerial Fact-Finding Committee on the dispute between SROL and the Osun State Government. This report affirmed our compliance with all our legal and regulatory obligations. We continue to pride ourselves on maintaining best practice standards across all our operations.
I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved in 2024 which is the result of the hard work and commitment of all our employees, leadership team, board and stakeholders. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their continued support, dedication and commitment. I look ahead to 2025 with confidence that we have the right strategy, a portfolio capable of unlocking significant values, cashflow to support our activities and the right team to deliver on our objectives.”
