Thor Mining (THR.L, THR.AX) has released an updated resource estimate on its fully owned Molyhil project. The current total resource estimate (including measured, indicated and inferred resource categories, which seems to be allowed by JORC standards) currently stands at 4.4 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.27% WO3, 0.10% molybdenum and a negligible amount of copper (0.05%) while the average grade of iron is just under 17%.
Ignoring the copper and the iron for now, the gross rock value of the total resource is approximately $24/t for molybdenum (using the current spot price of $11/pound) and $71/t using a current tungsten price of approximately $265/mtu for a combined total of $95/t. That’s pretty high but keep in mind this includes all resource categories and ignores recovery rates and the payable percentage of the production.
With just over 4 million tonnes across all resource categories, it looks like the Molyhil project could use some more meat on its bones and in its press release, Thor Mining confirms it has identified some exploration targets near the existing resource. Additionally, it will start working on evaluating the ore sorting process at Molyhil as that could perhaps upgrade the ore before it gets processed, leading to a lower capex and opex which could make a small operation viable.
Tungsten is a great commodity, but the Molyhil project is a bit small at this point.
Disclosure: The author has no position in Thor Mining. Please read our disclaimer.
