Thor Explorations (TSXV: THX; LSE: AIM) has announced that commissioning of the gold processing plant at its wholly owned Segilola gold project in Nigeria has begun, and confirmed it expects to pour the first gold by the end of July.
The process plant is being commissioned in phases, with commissioning already underway at the power plant. Commissioning of the SAG & ball mills will follow.
Mining has already begun, with 700,000 tonnes of waste mined and 30,000 tonnes of ore stockpiled in preparation for process plant commissioning. The open pit is fully prepared for mining operations with pre-strip nearing completion.
The mining fleet is fully commissioned, and production is expected to quickly ramp up to its design capacity, Thor stated in its July 19 news release.
All the necessary permits are in place and blasting operations have started as the company moves into the harder transitional and fresh ore zones.
The remaining work on the project is focused primarily on the gold room, elution and electrowinning circuit, power connection, instrumentation and control installations.
The Africa-focused company has a market capitalization of $186.9 million.