Thor Mining increases Molyhil mine life by one year

Thor Mining (ASX:THR, THR.L) has released an updated reserve estimate on its Molyhil tungsten-molybdenum mine in Australia's Northern Territory. The reserve estimate now contains approximately 3.5 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.29% WO3 and 0.12% molybdenum. Whilst the added value of the molybdenum is pretty low (a grade of 0.12% works out to be less than 3 pounds of molybdenum per tonne of rock), a WO3 grade of almost 0.3% is not too bad for an open pit project.

This is a good start for an updated financial model on the Molyhil deposit, and we're looking forward to see the updated capital cost and operating cost estimates. It will never be a high-margin project but with a recovery rate of 84.5% for the WO3 (and 72% for the molybdenum), a tungsten price of $300/mtu is relatively encouraging.