Mining

Thor Mining reports visible gold in stream samples at Ragged Range project

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By Imelda Cotton - 
Thor Mining ASX THR gold Pilbara Goldfield sampling

Visible gold in panning is consistent along an interpreted 13km anomalous gold corridor within the Pilbara project.

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Australian explorer Thor Mining (ASX: THR) has identified visible gold in stream sediment panning during the third phase of a geochemical sampling program at the high-priority Ragged Range gold project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

A total of 54 stream sediment sites with 112 samples were selected for reconnaissance and additional exploration following geochemical programs conducted over the past 12 months.

Thirteen of the sites had visible gold in panning, with two samples returning a maximum of six colours.

Visible gold in panning has been consistent along the interpreted 13km anomalous gold corridor which trends along the thrust faulted mafic/ultramafic contact across the project tenements.

Reconnaissance stream samples were also collected within the tenure including samples on the granite contact to the north, along a 1.5km northeast-southwest rock chip traverse across the corridor.

The central portion of the traverse is believed to be dominated by iron-manganese quartz vein/breccia float.

Second sampling phase

Today’s announcement follows similar results encountered during the second phase of geochemical sampling in July, where 17 of the 32 stream sediment samples had been observed to have visible gold in panning.

That phase of the program was designed to follow up the eight most encouraging sites from a 2019 reconnaissance program in addition to locating and testing an area of gossan previously identified by Geological Survey of WA (GSWA).

The gossan extends over 800m of strike length and is believed to be up to 75m wide.

Rock chip samples reported by GSWA assayed up to 1,080 parts per million nickel.

Laboratory assays

Thor is currently awaiting laboratory assays from the third phase, together with results from an airborne aeromagnetic survey conducted over the full tenement package earlier this month.

The high-resolution, close-spaced survey was designed to map out underlying mafic and ultramafic greenstones and identify key prospective structures.

Thor executive chairman Mick Billing said ongoing exploration is deepening the company’s understanding of the Ragged Range tenements.

“[These results bring us] another step closer in the process of narrowing down our drill target selection,” he said.

“The presence of visible gold in the samples is a good interactor that the gold corridor is open along strike extending south into [adjacent permit] application E46/1355, which we own.”

Mr Billing said a soil sampling program has been proposed for priority targets within the corridor to delineate coherent gold trends prior to drill testing.