Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR, ASX:THR) is upbeat about preliminary copper results from early stage drilling at the Alford East copper-gold project in South Australia.
An in-house portable X-ray fluorescent (pXRF) analyser was used to take copper readings from two holes - 21AED001 and 21AED002 - and highlighted wide downhole intercepts above the Mineral Resource Estimate grades.
Intercepts included 106.5 metres at 0.14% copper from a depth of 8 metres, including 33 metres at 0.40% copper, and 55.5 metres at 0.28% copper from a depth of 28 metres.
"Thor is excited by these preliminary pXRF results,” said managing director Nicole Galloway Warland. “The validation of the geological model and structural controls on mineralisation has a significant impact on subsequent drilling and the confidence level of any future Mineral Resource Estimates.”
“The step out of 21AED002 and confirmation of a wide copper intercept, highlights the potential to increase the current Mineral Resource Estimate," she said.
Core from the holes is being prepared to be sent to a laboratory for analytical analysis, including gold assay. The core preparation and sample processing time at the laboratory is anticipated to take about six weeks, Thor said.