Thor Explorations hits high-grade gold below Segilola pit as underground study advances
Published: 02:32 06 Aug 2026 EDT
Thor Explorations Ltd (TSX-V:THX, AIM:THX, OTC:THXPF, FRA:T2X) has intersected further high-grade gold beneath the open pit at its Segilola mine in Nigeria, strengthening the case for an underground operation at the site.
The AIM and TSX Venture-listed miner said drilling had cut 19.4 metres grading 3.01 grammes of gold per tonne from 346 metres down in hole SNMDD089.
Narrower but richer hits included 1.2 metres at 11.31 grammes and 2 metres at 9.27 grammes, both around 290 to 420 metres below surface.
Grade is measured in grammes of gold per tonne of rock, and anything above roughly 5 grammes is generally considered high grade for an underground mine.
The company said the mineralisation remains open at depth, meaning drilling has not yet found its lower limit.
Segilola sits 190 kilometres northeast of Lagos on the Ilesha Schist Belt, and is Nigeria's first commercial gold mine.
Segun Lawson, chief executive, said the results had identified a steeply dipping high-grade shoot in a previously untested area extending 400 metres beneath the pit.
He described the structural controls on the mineralisation as a challenging aspect of the programme, though understanding of them was improving.
Four company-owned rigs are drilling and the programme will run through the rest of the year, ahead of a decision on whether to develop an underground mine.
Thor has hired a mining consultancy to review the underground potential and is targeting an updated resource estimate by the end of 2026.
A 2018 economic assessment put the underground resource at 28,000 ounces grading 9.4 grammes in the indicated category, with a further 90,000 ounces at 7.9 grammes in the less certain inferred category.
Some of that has since been absorbed into a larger open pit design.
Record gold prices have shifted the economics, and the company said it would now consider extending the open pit further before moving underground.
Geotechnical and metallurgical studies are also under way, alongside follow-up drilling on the wider licence area.
