Canada-listed junior miner Thor Explorations (TSX-V:THX) has decided to move forward with its Segilola project in Nigeria, poised to become the country’s first large-scale gold mine, as it secured all the funding needed for the $98-million project.
The company noted construction work
will follow covid-19 procedures set out by the Osun state government and the country’s
Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
Thor said the financing package
totalled about $104.5 million, coming mostly from long-term investor, the
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), which will contribute $54 million in a senior
secured credit facility and further $21 million through a stream agreement.
President and chief operating
officer, Segun Lawson, said closing the financings would mark the company’s
“most significant milestone to date”.
The Vancouver-based company, which expects
to produce first gold at Segilola in the second quarter of 2021, is already
planning an underground extension.
The new section would have an
initial mine life of three years and could be brought on during the open pit
mine life to supplement production.
The project would require a $13 million-investment and could produce 33,000 ounces of gold annually, Thor said last year.
Thor Explorations acquired Segilola,
located about 120km from Nigeria’s city of Lagos, in August 2016 and renewed
the project’s mining licence (for 25 years) three months later, in November
2016.
Nigeria, Africa’s top crude oil
producer, is trying to diversify its economy by developing other industries,
such as mining, through various incentives.
The company first captured the
attention of the mining and investment community in February 2018, when it won
the Investing in African Mining Indaba’s Battlefield competition. The
award recognized it as the most promising emerging mining company, out of 22
other juniors who participated in the contest.
The miner is also working on two
other projects: Douta, in south-east Senegal, and Houndé, in western Burkina
Faso.