Thorin Resources is a private U.S. company that owns the Camp Bird and Revenue-Virginius mines in Ouray County, Colorado — a single contiguous district with over a century of underground development, modern surface infrastructure, and an active path to near-term production. Image: Adobe Stock
Thorin Resources owns two historic gold, silver and base-metal hard-rock mines in Ouray, Colorado. Preliminary work indicated that historic tailings and waste rock may contain recoverable platinum-group metals, rare earth elements and other critical minerals. Eric Keiter, chairman of the board of Thorin Resources, is a graduate of Penn State’s College of Science.
What brought Thorin Resources to Penn State’s Materials Research Institute, and what capabilities or expertise made MRI the right fit for the work you needed to accomplish?
Our challenge was that analytical results were not always consistent. Some laboratories detected platinum-group metals, rare earth elements and other strategic metals in our material, while conventional industry assays did not consistently reproduce those findings. We needed to better understand the mineralogy of the material, how the elements were associated with specific mineral phases and why different analytical methods were producing different results.
Based on my prior relationships with Penn State and my knowledge of its capabilities in chemistry, earth sciences and materials research, I believed the University could help us approach the problem with the necessary scientific rigor. Professor Josh Robinson connected us with Professors Sarma Pisupati and Mohammad Rezaee, and we determined that comprehensive materials characterization was the appropriate first step.
How has working with MRI’s staff and characterization facilities helped Thorin better understand its materials and advance its work? Are there particular aspects of the staff expertise, equipment or collaborative process that have been especially valuable?
That work led us to the Materials Characterization Laboratory and Dr. Maureen Feineman. The laboratory analyzed tailings and underground mine samples using techniques including X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and elemental mapping to better understand the mineral phases, textures and elemental associations in the material.
One of the most valuable aspects of the process was the judgment and expertise of the Penn State team. Rather than overstate what could be concluded from the initial results, they identified the limitations of the techniques being used and recommended more sensitive follow-up methods. That demonstrated the value of working with experts who not only operate sophisticated equipment, but also understand how to interpret the data and determine the most productive next steps.
The work has given Thorin a stronger analytical foundation for future resource and recovery assessments, and we hope to continue working with Penn State on additional analysis and potential extraction and recovery methods.
Based on your experience with MRI, what would you tell another company that is considering working with Penn State? What value can a partnership with MRI provide that may be difficult for a company to access or replicate on its own?
Working with Penn State has been a game changer for Thorin. Access to analytical instrumentation of this sophistication would be difficult and prohibitively expensive for a company of our size to replicate independently. Just as important is access to the people behind the equipment. Penn State has brought together experts from multiple disciplines who have taken the time to understand our material, our analytical questions and our broader objectives.
The value of MRI extends well beyond access to state-of-the-art equipment. Its staff helps clients understand what results mean, recognize the limitations of the data and determine the most productive next steps. That combination of advanced facilities, scientific expertise, collaborative problem-solving and institutional credibility has made Penn State an exceptional partner for Thorin Resources.