REG - Thor Explorations Ld - FORMATION OF NIGERIA FOCUSED LITHIUM SUBSIDIARY

Thor ExplorationsAnnouncement

31/05/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1445B  Thor Explorations Ltd  31 May 2023

NEWS RELEASE

 

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR

DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. WIRE SERVICES

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
TSXV/AIM: THX

MAY 31, 2023
 

 

THOR EXPLORATIONS ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF NIGERIA FOCUSED LITHIUM SUBSIDIARY
WITH ACQUISITION OF OVER 600KM2 OF PROSPECTIVE LITHIUM PEGMATITE EXPLORATION
TENURE

 

Thor Explorations Ltd (TSXV / AIM: THX), "Thor", is a West African-focussed
minerals exploration and mining Company, that currently operates the Segilola
Gold Mine in Nigeria and is advancing the Douta Gold Project in Senegal
towards development.

 

As part of its strategy of identifying high-value mineral resource
opportunities and leveraging its first mover advantage in Nigeria, Thor,
through its fully-owned subsidiary Newstar Minerals Ltd, is pleased to
announce the acquisition of significant tenure in south-west Nigeria that
covers both known lithium bearing pegmatite deposits and a large unexplored
prospective pegmatite-rich belt. Thor's initial focus is in the south-west
quadrant of Nigeria where vital infrastructure, including port facilities at
Lagos and Cotonou, are located within close proximity.

 

Thor has secured over 600km(2) of granted tenure in Nigeria that forms West
Oyo, Kwara State and Ekiti State Lithium Project Areas. The West Oyo Project
Area encompasses what Thor considers to be Nigeria's most significant lithium
pegmatite occurrence and is currently being exploited by small-scale lithium
mining.

 

Thor will leverage its in-country first-mover experience in large-scale
hard-rock gold exploration, mine development and production, together with the
consequential country de-risking advantages. Exploration and development of
the lithium-pegmatite opportunities will operate in parallel with Thor's
expanding gold business.

 

Initial field inspection and selective sampling of key sites have returned
significant lithium grades from both 'hard-rock'spodumene and lepidolite
mineralisation. Sampling of part of a key pegmatite deposit that falls within
Thor's tenure returned an analysis of between 1.34% lithium oxide ("Li(2)0")
and 9.31% Li(2)0.

 

The Company's objective is to develop its first large-scale lithium mine
without the need to sell down ownership positions or dilute existing Thor
shareholders.

 

The Company will continue to focus on exploring the potential for mine life at
Segilola, producing the Preliminary Feasibility Study at Douta while
continuing to develop this lithium opportunity.

 

A presentation on Thor's Lithium Opportunity can be found on the homepage of
the Company's website via the following link:

 

https://thorexpl.com/ (https://thorexpl.com/)

 

Segun Lawson, President & CEO, stated:

"We are extremely excited to be able to bring this opportunity to our
shareholders. Nigeria is well-known for its high-grade lithium-pegmatite
deposits most of which are worked on at an artisanal scale for associated
high-value gemstones and tantalum. We have assembled a significant land
package containing lithium bearing pegmatites and existing lithium production
and we intend to implement modern, socially and environmentally appropriate
exploration and development techniques designed to exploit the larger-scale
potential of Nigeria's pegmatite fields.

 

"While gold remains fundamental to our growth strategy, we consider the
virtually untapped lithium potential of Nigeria to be an opportunity that is
too good to miss, particularly given our established in-country presence,
experience and first-mover advantage. We intend to develop both businesses
without any shareholder dilution. Given our financing partners and Chinese
development relationships, we also believe we are well positioned to
fast-track any commercially feasible opportunities to production.

 

"We look forward to updating the investors with our progress on this exciting,
value accretive venture."

 

Introduction

In late 2022 Thor undertook an assessment of the opportunities for large-scale
development of lithium pegmatites in Nigeria. This work focussed on Oyo State
and other regions in southwest Nigeria and comprised inspections of known
small scale mining operations that were being worked mainly for gemstones and
tantalum. In some locations it was noted that there had been a shift towards
producing high-grade spodumene and lepidolite ore that is being sold at a
limited scale.

 

The south western portion of Nigeria is underlain by basement  rocks that
form part of the  Pan-African  mobile belt. It is intruded by younger
granites and is unconformably overlain by Cretaceous and younger sediments.
The main lithologies in this region include amphibolites, migmatitic gneisses,
granites and pegmatites. The pegmatite fields in the southwestern part of
Nigeria mainly  trend in a NW-SE direction. The pegmatities occur as
extensive very coarse-grained dykes that, typically, contain medium-grained
microcline-albite-quartz, blocky  microcline-quartz, coarse-grained quartz
and a core of coarse-grained  muscovite-quartz.

 

Thor has undertaken a limited amount of sampling to assess the potential for
high grade spodumene and lepidolite mineralisation. The sampling data,
together with field observations, provided sufficient encouragement to
proceed, initially, acquiring tenure in areas that returned the highest grade
lithium mineralisation. At the West Oyo Lithium Project, a large outcropping
pegmatite intrusive has been partly excavated over an extensive area in a
small-scale mining operation.

 

In forming the West Oyo Lithium Project, Thor's wholy owned subsidiary,
Newstar has acquired the rights to granted tenure that covers this pegmatite
deposit in addition to strike extensions to the south and north.

 

Figure 1: Thor Explorations Nigeria Licence Location Map

 

Reconnaissance Sampling and Field Verification Results

 

A limited amount of sampling was conducted to assess the potential for high
grade spodumene and lepidolite mineralisation. These samples were analysed by
SGS laboratories in Randfontein, South Africa using inductively coupled plasma
("ICP") and fusion analytical techniques (SGS method codes GE_ICP90A50 and
GE_FUZ90A50). Table 1 summarises the results in both elemental lithium ("Li")
and lithium oxide grades of reconnaissance sampling from the southern parts of
the West Oyo Lithium Project.

 

 Li      Li    Li2O    Li2O
 ppm     %     ppm     %
 43,245  4.32  93,115  9.31
 33,365  3.34  71,835  7.19
 37,650  3.77  81,060  8.12
 14,720  1.47  31,692  3.17

 

Table 1: Analytical Results from Reconnaissance Sampling at Location 6

 

Location 6 is the site of the largest known zoned spodumene-lepidolite
pegmatite in Nigeria. The pegmatite outcrops over a width of approximately 50m
and strike length of several hundred metres. The full extent of this pegmatite
body is yet to be determined. A small scale mining operation is currently
extracting a variety of spodumene known as kunzite for its gemstone
characteristics with most of the typical spodumene being discarded. The grade
of 9.31% Li(2)0 from the sample from L06 suggests near-surface enrichment.

 

Figure 2: West Oyo Lithium Project Area Location Map

 

 

 

Figure 3: Reconnaissance samples of spodumene and lepidolite from south
western Nigeria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4: Spodumene crystal swarm (left and centre) grading into lepidolite
(right wall) exposed

at Location 6

 

 

West Oyo Lithium Project

 

The West Oyo Lithium Project comprises approximately 38km(2) of exploration
tenure that is located towards the westernmost border of Nigeria and within
200km of the commercial capital of Lagos (Figure 1). The project area is
unique in the Nigerian context as it is mostly located in a relatively
sparsely populated region of the country but within close proximity to large
population centres and advanced infrastructure such as road, rail and ports.

 

The West Oyo Lithium Project has not been subjected to modern systematic
exploration, such as drilling and hence, represents an exciting opportunity
and potential for a major lithium pegmatite discovery.

 

 

Strategy

 

Thor has commenced a 5,000 metre scout drilling program at the West Oyo
Lithium Project and intends to rapidly assess the resource potential with bulk
sampling, mineralogical studies and lithium extraction test work on the
pegmatites currently located and acquired. Based on these outcomes systematic
exploration and resource drilling will be focussed on the areas that have been
shown to have the most positive commercial characteristics.

 

Thor considers the West Oyo Lithium Project as an important initial step
towards establishing a significant as a leader in lithium exploration and
development in Nigeria. Several additional  opportunities have been
identified and it is expected that these will shortly form part of the project
pipeline.

 

Thor aims to become the "centre of gravity" that will attract and consolidate
the many lithium opportunities that exist throughout southern Nigeria.

 

 

Nigeria Government Support

 

Thor has established and developed excellent relationships at Federal, State
and Departmental levels of Government in Nigeria.

 

The views of the Nigerian Government are reflected in the following public
domain extracts:

 

"Lithium is progressively becoming a strategic economic resource of major
global significance with the potential to dramatically influence world wealth
and economies in the future decades. Nigeria's successive governments have
emphasized the necessity of diversifying the economy, which had previously
relied solely on oil and gas, particularly since the beginning of the present
democratic system" (after Y. Olakitan).

 

"Chairman of the Board of the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF), Uba
Sa'idu Malami, a co-founder of the Geological Society of Nigeria, said:
"Lithium is the new oil that could significantly control global wealth and
economy of nations in the coming decades," adding that the new economic order
will be largely dictated by the ability of nations to take advantage of
emerging opportunities afforded by lithium resources" (S. Ezeuqwu)

 

 

Qualified Person
The above information has been prepared under the supervision of Alfred
Gillman (Fellow AusIMM, CP), who is designated as a "qualified person" under
National Instrument 43-101 and the AIM Rules and has reviewed and approved the
content of this news release. He has also reviewed QA/QC, sampling, analytical
and test data underlying the information.

 

About Thor

Thor Explorations Ltd. is a Canadian 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 a 70% interest in the Douta
Gold Project located in south-eastern Senegal. Thor also holds a 49% interest
in the Bongui and Legue gold permits located in Houndé greenstone belt, south
west Burkina Faso. Thor trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol
"THX".

 

THOR EXPLORATIONS LTD.

Segun Lawson

President & CEO

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

Thor Explorations Ltd

Tel: 778-373-0102

Fax: 604-434-1487

Email: info@thorexpl.com (mailto:info@thorexpl.com)

 

Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker)

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio / Thomas Diehl

 

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8000

 

Hannam & Partners (Broker)

Andrew Chubb / Matt Hasson / Nilesh Patel / Franck Nganou

 

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7907 8500

 

Fig House Communications (Investor Relations)

Tel: +1 416 822 6483

Email: investor.relations@thorexpl.com
(mailto:investor.relations@thorexpl.com)

 

BlytheRay (Financial
PR)

Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Said Izagaren

Tel: +44 207 138 3203

 

 

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that
term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

 

 

This press release does not constitute an offer to purchase securities.  The
securities to be offered in the offering have not been and will not be
registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any
state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or
to, or for the benefit or account of, a U.S. person, except pursuant to an
available exemption from such registration requirements.

 

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

 

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information
presented constitutes "forward looking statements" within the meaning of
certain securities laws, and is subject to important risks, uncertainties and
assumptions. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the
completion of the acquisition of the Segilola Gold Project and the use of the
proceeds of the private placement.  The words "may", "could", "should",
"would", "suspect", "outlook", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect",
"intend", "plan", "target" and similar words and expressions are used to
identify forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this
news release describes the Company's expectations as of the date of this news
release and accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should
not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely
upon this information as of any other date. While the Company may elect to, it
does not undertake to update this information at any particular time.

 

 

 

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