Thor Advances to Exploration Drilling on the Central Houndé Project in Burkina Faso
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NEWS RELEASE
NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. WIRE SERVICES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TSXV: THX
June 24, 2013 Shares Outstanding: 91,108,113
Vancouver, British Columbia
THOR ADVANCES TO EXPLORATION DRILLING ON THE
CENTRAL HOUNDÉ PROJECT IN BURKINA FASO
Thor Explorations Ltd. (“Thor” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Company has identified four priority targets after the successful completion of its first stage of work on the identified priority areas of its Central Houndé Project (the “Project”) in south‐west Burkina Faso and initiated an Exploration Drilling Campaign on these targets. The Exploration Drilling Campaign is fully funded and will be the first opportunity to test the grade and intervals of mineralisation on the property which has not been explored with modern techniques before. This work represents Thor’s progression to its second stage of exploration on the Ouéré East priority area.
The first stage of exploration at Ouéré East included field mapping and soil and rock geochemistry. The key findings from this work include:
Rock Sampling: results confirm the presence of gold mineralisation in selected samples collected from artisanal mining areas with mineralisation hosted both within quartz veins and wall rock. Of 787 rock samples taken, 25 samples grade over 5.0g/t gold, with highest assays at 56 g/t, 43g/t & 23g/t;1
Soil Sampling: Anomalous gold concentrations have been found in soils over a strike length of 5km on the main north north east trend, which is open to the south. Additional new gold anomalies represent new targets for follow up work; and
Field mapping: At least three orientations of gold artisanal mining areas have been recognised, evidenced through field mapping and rock sampling of the artisanal areas. A variety of host rocks have been identified, dominated by either meta‐volcanic and volcaniclastic units or felsic intrusives.
1 The rock samples were all grab samples taken from artisanal workings and related waste dumps. These were taken in order to identify which lithologies were mineralized and to provide an indication of mineralization styles. Further work will be required to assess the true thickness of mineralization.
The high grades observed in the rock sampling exercise are encouraging signs of mineralisation; however, it is important to note that these grades are unlikely to be representative of in‐situ mineralisation on mining dimensions. Further information on the soil and rock programme can be found at the end of this release.
Exploration Drilling Exploration Campaign initiated
The Exploration Drilling campaign will involve drilling approximately 1,500 m of Reverse Circulation (“RC”) drilling on four priority targets. Targets have been prioritised based on host rock geology, structural orientation and strike length potential. The 1,500 m programme will include between 10 and 14 holes drilled to a maximum depth of 150 m with the aim of developing an understanding of mineralisation on the property.
Thor has signed a contract with drill contractor Geodrill who are drilling on competitor projects in West Africa, including similar projects in the Houndé Belt.
About the Houndé Greenstone Belt, south‐west Burkina Faso
The Houndé belt is host to the Semafo Mana Mine which has been in production since 2009 and a number of recent gold discoveries. The recent exploration discoveries by Semafo, Roxgold and Endeavour have average grades equal to or over 2.5g/t gold and have been subject to resource upgrades in early 2013. An overview of these new discoveries is tabulated below.
| Company | Project | Indicated resources | Inferred Resources | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnage | Grade | Ounces | Tonnage | Grade | Ounces | ||
| Semafo | Siou Sector 1 | 6.7Mt | 4.62g/t | 1.00MOz | |||
| Roxgold | 55 Zone, Yaramoko 2 | 1.3Mt | 15.7g/t | 0.68MOz | 0.8Mt | 8.9g/t | 0.22MOz |
| Endeavour | Houndé 3 | 15.8Mt | 2.5g/t | 1.28MOz | 8.0Mt | 2.6g/t | 0.66MOz |
Table 1: Competitor resources in the Houndé Greenstone belt, Burkina Faso. 1 Semafo News Release dated February 21st 2013, 2 Roxgold Inc. News Release March 4th 2013, 3 Endeavour Mining Corporation News Release dated January 22nd 2013. Note that Roxgold has applied a 3.0 cut‐off grade, and Semafo and Endeavour have applied a 1.0g/t cut‐off grade to the resources stated above.
Cautionary Note: Minerals resources disclosed herein related to nearby properties owned by other companies, have been extracted from those respective companies’ press releases. A qualified person has been unable to verify the information regarding any resources within adjacent properties, and such resources are not necessarily indicative of potential quantities or grades of mineralization on the Company’s own properties.
The “Central Houndé Project Location Map” showing the location of Thor’s Central Houndé Project and competitor resources within the Houndé Belt can be found on the Company’s website at the following link: http://www.thorexpl.com/s/Maps.asp.
Thor’s Central Houndé Project
Thor’s Central Houndé Project is located approximately 100km along strike from the recent discoveries mentioned above, within the same greenstone belt. Thor commenced work on the Central Houndé Project in 2012 with regional exploration and reconnaissance trips into specific areas of the permit group. This work identified the Ouéré East zone as the priority area for follow‐up exploration. The Ouéré East zone is intersected by the regional north north east oriented structure running along the Houndé belt, and was found to include a number of artisanal workings over a 5 km by 1 km area.
In late 2012, Thor initiated stage 1 of the exploration of Ouéré East consisting of selective rock chip sampling and mapping on the artisanal workings and regional soil sampling over the area. Stage 1 aimed to understand the geology and structure and to confirm gold mineralisation at the artisanal workings.
Thor is now commencing stage 2 of the exploration plan of Ouéré East with the start of RC drilling.
Future Exploration Focus
A successful Exploration Drilling Campaign will give Thor the required data to advance to a more systematic drilling campaign on the most prospective targets. Thor aims to release the results of its Exploration Drilling Campaign during August 2013.
Segun Lawson, CEO of Thor commented;
“We are very pleased with these results which support our belief in the Central Houndé Project. The Houndé Belt is one of the most exciting emerging greenstone gold belts, with a number of recent exploration successes. We have a significant exploration package in the centre of the Houndé Belt and have identified signs of mineralisation over a significant proportion of our priority area. We are focused on testing the potential of our targets at Ouéré East, which is a very exciting time for Thor.”
Soil and rock geochemistry programme
Rock samples were selected from waste dumps adjacent to artisanal mining pits and consisted either of quartz rock targeted by artisanal miners, or wall rock treated as waste by artisanal miners. A standard approach to rock and soil sampling was taken. Results of the soil sampling exercise and the artisanal workings are illustrated in the map “Ouéré East soil sampling exercise”, available on the Company’s website at the following link: http://www.thorexpl.com/s/Maps.asp.
Rock and soil samples consisted of approximately 2 to 3 kg of material, which were dispatched to the ALS Laboratory in Ouagadougou where samples were prepared by fine crushing and pulverising. Rock samples were analysed by fire assay of a 50 g charge with Atomic Absorption Spectrometry finish, with a lower detection limit of 0.01 g/t Au. Soils were analysed by Bulk Leach Extractable gold with Atomic Absorption finish, with a lower detection limit of 0.001 g/t Au.
The soil and rock programmes were used only to guide further exploration and are not suitable for use in resource modelling. As such, the Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC) procedures applied during sampling and assaying were kept to a minimum. The QAQC results have been reviewed by Dr. Field who is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43‐101.
About Thor Explorations Ltd.
Thor Explorations Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor holds a 70% interest in the Douta Gold Project located in southeastern Senegal. The Douta Gold Project lies within the Kéniéba Inlier which hosts significant gold resources and has attracted major international mining companies. Thor also holds an 85% interest in the Bongui and Legue gold permits located in Houndé greenstone belt, and a 100% interest in the Ouéré gold permit in south west Burkina Faso. The three Burkina Faso permits comprise the Central Houndé Project. Thor trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "THX".
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed by Dr. Matthew Field, Pr.Sci.Nat, who is a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43‐101 and an employee of AMEC who have been engaged by Thor Explorations Ltd. to provide advice on exploration data collection and resource estimation. Dr. Field has not yet visited the Central Houndé Project, but is due to do so in late June 2013. His knowledge of Thor’s property is limited to information supplied by Thor for review plus public domain information relating to the adjacent properties referred to in this press release.
THOR EXPLORATIONS LTD.
Per: “Segun Lawson”
President & CEO
For further information please contact:
Tel: 778‐373‐0102 Fax: 604‐639‐4670 Email: [email protected]
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