Thor subsidiary starts using innovative geophysical technique

Thor Energy announced on Thursday that its 30%-owned subsidiary EnviroCopper had begun working on an innovative geophysical technique at the Alford West Project in South Australia.

The AIM-traded company said it was conducting an ambient noise tomography (ANT) survey, which uses ‘ExoSphere’ technology by Fleet Space to measure naturally-occurring seismic vibrations and detect variations in density of the underlying rock units.

It said the lightweight, battery-powered sensors would focus on areas with low-density contrast, which had been shown to host oxidised copper mineralisation suitable for in-situ copper recovery.

Thor said the exploration technique had the potential to significantly improve efficiency in both time and cost, leading to better drill targeting, fewer drill holes, lower environmental impact, and reduced time on the land.

The South Australian government’s Accelerated Discovery Grant awarded EnviroCopper up to AUD 30,000 (£16,890) to partially fund the survey technique.

Thor said the survey results were expected to be announced in late March.

“We are pleased to announce the commencement of this low-impact ANT geophysics survey over the Alford West copper-gold project,” said Thor’s managing director Nicole Galloway Warland.

“This survey aims to create detailed subsurface maps which will assist in targeting areas of potential oxide copper mineralisation within the Alford Copper Belt, hence reducing and focusing further drilling programs.

“The use of the ExoSphere technology has enabled us to be more efficient in our exploration and we will start to see those benefits come to fruition in the upcoming months.”

At 1254 GMT, shares in Thor Energy were down 11.6% at 0.32p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.