The company has stockpiled 30,000 tonnes of ore ahead of the commissioning of the processing plant

Vox Royalty Corp--Vox notes the successful commencement of the c

The Segilola Gold Project in Nigeria. (Credit: CNW Group/Vox Royalty Corp.)

Thor Explorations expects to pour first gold from its 100% owned Segilola gold project in Nigeria by the month-end having started the commissioning of the gold processing plant.

Located in Osun State, Segilola is an open pit mining project. The gold mine, which broke ground in March 2020, has a total probable reserve of 517,800 ounces.

Thor Explorations said that the commissioning process of the 715,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) processing plant was launched after the successful turning of the mills.

According to the Canadian gold exploration and development company, the remaining work is mainly focused on the gold room, power connection, elution and electrowinning circuit, and installations of instrumentation and control equipment.

Thor Explorations president and CEO Segun Lawson said: “We are pleased to reach this significant milestone on the Segilola Gold Project.

“Once again, I would like to thank the entire team, which has done an excellent job amidst the difficult circumstances of the global pandemic to reach this key step in the development of the Segilola Gold Project as we gear up towards production.”

The gold processing plant is being commissioned in a phased manner. As part of this, the associated power plant is undergoing commissioning process.

After the power plant, the next in line are the SAG and Ball Mills, followed by the crushing section. Following these, the company will continue with the commissioning of the remaining areas of the processing plant.

Thor Explorations said that mining is going on at the Segilola gold project with 700,000 tonnes of waste mined, while 30,000 tonnes of ore have been stockpiled ahead of the commissioning of the processing plant.

Meanwhile, the Canadian firm has completed full preparation at the pit to enable mining operations, with pre-strip on the verge of completion.

The mining fleet has been commissioned fully and production is anticipated to quickly increase to its design capacity, said the company.

Thor Explorations stated that it has all the required permits in place and that blasting operations have commenced as it advances into the harder transitional and fresh ore zones.