Nigeria to commence gold production at industrial-scale before July end, as Thor commissions factory

By YANGE IKYAA

Thor Explorations Limited has commenced the commissioning of its gold processing factory in Nigeria, following the successful turning of mills at its Segilola Gold Project in the southwestern State of Osun.

The process plant, which is 100% owned by Thor, is being commissioned in phases, with commissioning having already started at the power plant. Commissioning of the SAG & Ball Mills and the crushing section will follow, after which the remaining areas of the process plant will be commissioned.

Thor Explorations is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State of Nigeria and has a 70% economic interest in the Douta Gold Project located in south-eastern Senegal, and trades on AIM and the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “THX”.

Segun Lawson, who is the president and CEO of Thor, said “we are pleased to reach this significant milestone on the Segilola Gold Project. Once again, I would like to thank the entire team, which has done an excellent job amidst the difficult circumstances of the global pandemic to reach this key step in the development of the Segilola Gold Project, even as we gear up towards production. We continue to work towards, and look forward to first gold pour before the end of the month.”

As the company expects to pour or mill out its first gold from the project before the end of July 2021, the remaining work is now focused primarily on the gold room, the elution and electrowinning circuit, as well as on power connection, instrumentation and control installations.

Mining is underway, with 700,000 tonnes of waste already mined and 30,000 tonnes of ore stockpiled in preparation for the process plant commissioning. The pit is fully prepared for mining operations, with pre-strip nearing completion, while the mining fleet is now fully commissioned and production is expected to quickly ramp up to its design capacity.

In addition, all the necessary permits are in place and blasting operations have started, as Thor moves into the harder transitional and fresh ore zones with gold mining operations.