Initial drilling at Aim- and TSX-V-listed explorer Thor Explorations’ newly discovered Sambara prospect suggests it could potentially develop into a supplemental high-grade resource at the company’s Senegal-based Douta gold project.

A comprehensive exploration programme, comprising about 5 000 m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling in the first phase, was designed to both upgrade parts of the existing Douta  resource and to test Sambara, which is located towards the northern parts of the exploration licence.

The initial drilling also sought to further refine the Makosa gold deposit with a current inferred resource of 730 000 oz of gold, which is also part of the Douta gold project.

In addition, drilling at the southern extremity of Makosa has resulted in a high-grade intersection which indicates that robust mineralisation extends at depth.

At Sambara, the most compelling drill results come from drillhole DTRC426, which finds 6 m of gold mineralisation at a grade of 4.8 g/t, 65 m below surface.

Drill hole DTRC431 also finds 6 m of mineralisation at 4.8 g/t of gold, 12 m below surface; while drillhole DTRC491 reveals a 2 m mineralised zone grading 6.39 g/t of gold at a depth of 8 m.

Drillholes DTRC493 and DTRC497 find 6 m of mineralisation at 2.58 g/t, 57 m deep; and 2 m of mineralisation at 5.85 g/t at a depth of 26 m, respectively.

At the Makosa prospect, initial drilling reveals a mineralised zone of 8 m at a grade of 4.77 g/t, 62 m below the surface at drillhole DTRC504; while drillhole DTRC506 finds 4 m of mineralisation at 2.95 g/t, 1 m below the surface.

The Douta gold project covers an area of 58 km² and is located within the Kéniéba inlier, eastern Senegal.

President and CEO Segun Lawson says that, through the drilling programme, Thor has established that gold mineralisation is developed in the northern parts of its exploration permit.

“We look forward to advancing exploration on this discovery which we hope will supplement the Makosa resource.

“The first batch of samples from the Makosa upgrade drilling programme have produced very positive results that suggest that the resource may extend at depth,” he says.

Going forward, Thor expects to receive additional results from its drilling programme, which will continue over the next six weeks.