The long-awaited offtake deal on Thor Mining's molybdenum mine has been secured with a Chinese consortium, pushing up shares over 30%.

Thor has spent the past year seeking an offtake partner for the Molyhill project in Australia after China's Hunan Nonferrous Metals group pulled out of an agreement in April 2007 to buy molybdenum and tungsten produced at the mine.

Today's announcement sees Chinese State-owned group CITIC drafted in as the replacement buyer. It has agreed to take the entire production from Molyhill.

The offtake agreement enables Thor to arrange the final stage of funding for the mine - it needs around £29 million. It plans to have final development approvals during the second quarter of 2008.

Molybdenum is used to make stainless steel and cast iron, acting as an alloy agent. Selling prices have risen sharply in recent months on demands from the energy sector and steel producers.

Shares in Thor had increased by 31% to 7.88p in early trading on Wednesday.