Could you share Thor’s latest financial performance and your current positioning?

Like most gold producers today, we’re exposed to record-high prices, but it takes more than that: Thor has practiced continuous cost discipline, maintaining AISC under US$1,000/oz, which allows us to fully reap the benefits of the bull market. Our balance sheet is stronger than ever: after fully repaying our loan to the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) as of December 31, 2024, we have started building up cash that we can deploy in growth projects. Q1 this year reflected record revenues, only surpassed by our subsequent results in Q2, with revenues at US$82.5 million and ending the period with net cash of just under US$53 million.

What are your current exploration focuses this year?

Though we are a gold producer, we remain a growth-geared company, and growth can happen through successful exploration, so we have leveraged the high gold prices to boost our exploration budgets, with the top end being about US$22 million allocated this year across all jurisdictions. 

Starting with Nigeria, our first and most important exploration focus today is around the Segilola mine, where we have been drilling deeper underneath the pit to evaluate whether we can extend into an underground operation or even deepen the current open pit. Segilola currently produces around 80,000 to 95,000 oz/y and has three years’ LOM based on current reserves.

In Senegal, we have completed a 12,000-meter campaign that will feed into the PFS of the Douta project, and in Côte d’Ivoire we have just completed a maiden drilling program at Guitry, a project acquired from Endeavour Mining. The results showed high-grade mineralization that remains open along strike and at depth. Our goal is to put together a maiden resource of over 500,000 oz by the end of this year. A new 6,000-meter drill program will also start in late September/early October at Marahui, our recently acquired exploration license which has shown encouraging initial exploration results.

Thor has assets in Nigeria, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. Can you comment on this diversification?

Our jurisdictional diversification is certainly a defining characteristic of Thor, but so is the fact that our projects are also diversified by stage of development—with a project in production in Nigeria, an advanced development project at PFS stage in Senegal, and early-stage exploration projects in Côte d’Ivoire. West Africa has proven its prospectivity for discoveries, as well as its attractiveness in terms of short development timelines that surpass most other parts of the world. Côte d’Ivoire, in particular, has repeatedly proven itself with probably the most success stories in recent years, so we are very happy with the recent acquisitions from Endeavour and how our portfolio has evolved.

How do you measure the appetite for investment in gold mining stocks?

Our share price has performed exceptionally well over the past 12 months, up about 300%. That strength reflects a higher gold price, our record revenues, the elimination of debt, and the fact that we are now returning money to shareholders. We’re seeing growing interest from both institutional and retail investors. On the retail side, trading volumes have increased significantly on both of our listings (TSXV and AIM), so activity picked up on both sides of the Atlantic. Institutional interest has also strengthened. We’ve recently welcomed several European investors onto our register, including Quantex, CQS, Konwave, and SSI. At the same time, our core shareholders remain supportive. 

At the producer level, that trickle-down effect of a high commodity market is clear, but for explorers it remains more challenging; investors remain hesitant to commit significant capital to early-stage projects. I suspect we will either see a delayed trickle-down to exploration companies or increased consolidation, with producers taking strategic positions in explorers. We’re already seeing this trend in Côte d’Ivoire. 

What is your vision going forward?

I hope to see Thor operating three mines in five years—with the Nigerian operation extended, Douta in production, and a third operation in Côte d’Ivoire. Thor is in the strongest position it has ever been, with a solid and growing balance sheet and a diversified portfolio of assets across both jurisdictions and stages of development. We believe we have a compelling story and are focused on advancing our projects, unlocking value, and continuing to return capital to shareholders.