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THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF REGULATION 2014/596/EU (WHICH FORMS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018) ("UK MAR"). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION (AS DEFINED IN UK MAR) IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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PANTHER METALS PLC
("Panther" or the "Company")
(Incorporated in the Isle of Man with company number 009753V)
29th September 2021
Proposed Investment and Technical Support
Panther Metals PLC (LSE:PALM) the company focused on mineral exploration in Canada and Australia, is pleased to announce a proposed investment into Panther Metals Limited, Australia, by Asgard Metals Fund ("the fund"),a 100% owned subsidiary of Ariana Resources Plc (AIM:AAU), and a proposed consultancy agreement with Ariana Resources Plc.
Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"We are delighted to see the support shown in Panther Metals Limited Australia by Asgard Metals Fund as we work towards the proposed IPO on the ASX. The investment, combined with the successful track record of the Ariana technical team, and now their direct involvement supporting the Panther Metals Australia board post listing, reflects the strong regard the assets in Australia are held in.
aHaving built powerful position that's prospective for both Nickel and Gold in Australia, the proposed ASX listing will provide Panther Metals Plc with a significant holding in the business.This will immediately boost our balance sheet while providing the potential for capital growth as the well-funded team in Australia go to work."
Highlights:
· Asgard Metals Fund ("Asgard") to take an interest in Panther Metals Limited in Australia ("Panther Australia") through an issue of new shares.
· 1.25 million shares to be granted to Asgard on completion of the IPO of Panther Australia on the ASX (equivalent to A$250,000), as provided for under the terms of a consultancy agreement.
· Under the consultancy agreement to take effect from IPO, the Ariana team will provide technical expertise into the design, implementation and interpretation of the exploration programmes of Panther Australia over a two-year period.
· A further subscription for at least 250,000 shares is expected via the IPO placing (equivalent to A$50,000 in value at current estimates).
· Shares issued to Ariana will be held in a mandatory escrow for a 2-year period following the IPO of Panther Australia on the ASX.
· Panther Australia's IPO anticipated to take place before the end of 2021.
· Dr. Kerim Sener, is a director and shareholder (2.6%) in Panther Metals plc and a director of Panther Australia, which is currently 77% owned by Panther Metals plc.
The person who approved this announcement for the purposes of UK MAR is Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer.
Editors' Notes:
About Panther Metals Limited:
The following information is derived from stock exchange announcements by Panther Metals plc (principally 21 June 2021, 27 May 2021, 8 July 2020 and 18 June 2020). Panther Metals Limited ("PML") is a majority-owned subsidiary of Panther Metals PLC (LSE:PALM), and is focused on mineral exploration in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. PML is presently pursuing a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (the "ASX" or "ASX Exchange").
Western Australia Projects
The Merolia Project ("Merolia") comprises a series of largely contiguous exploration licences located approximately 35km to the southeast of the town of Laverton (population: 340) in the Eastern Goldfields Province of Western Australia. The area around Laverton includes several major gold mines, including Granny Smith (3 Moz), Sunrise Dam (8 Moz) and Wallaby (8 Moz), and many significant gold deposits. It is one of the most prolific gold producing areas in Western Australia and is consequently well-serviced by infrastructure and has a skilled local work-force.
The Archaean greenstone belts in the Laverton region are dominantly basaltic in composition, containing ultramafic intercalations, which were subsequently intruded by dolerite dykes in places and which are particularly prospective for gold and nickel mineralisation. The areas under licence are partly obscured by a veneer of partly lateritic transported cover and exploration in the area has consequently been limited.
Within the eastern part of Merolia are a series of gold prospects, notably Burtville East, Comet Well and Ironstone. Regional magnetic data over this part of the project identifies several NW-SE trending shear systems which have potential to host gold mineralisation. This potential has been confirmed by surface geochemical sampling along the 15km long Comet Well gold trend, which has identified several significant and coherent linear gold in soil anomalies at Comet South, Comet North, Comet West, Ironstone and the recently discovered 40 Mile Camp anomaly.
Previous drilling across these prospect areas includes 8m at 6.7 g/t Au at Burtville East and 9m at 46.5 g/t Au at Ironstone. In addition, historic drilling at Burtville East includes 5m at 27.8 g/t Au and 24m at 8.6g/t Au at Ironstone. The Comet Well area has not been drilled to date, but contains a series of distinct sub-parallel 1.25 to 2.5km long NW-trending gold anomalous zones (gold in soils reaching a peak of 2.6 g/t Au), which yielded substantial quantities of angular gold nuggets through surface prospecting. The angular nature of the gold nuggets suggests a proximal gold source, which will become the focus of further work in this area.
Approximately 15km to the west of Laverton lies the Red Flag Project ("Red Flag"). Previous exploration in the area around Red Flag identified a WNW-trending gold anomalous zone coinciding with a distinct magnetic low. The geology of the area is dominated by mafic volcanic rocks intruded by dolerite dykes, displaying sheared gold mineralised margins in places. This area was drilled, yielding a best near surface intercept of 2m at 9.20 g/t Au. The licence area is also significantly prospective for nickel-cobalt sulphide mineralisation, containing the Mt. Goose and Salimas prospects, and with several resources identified on adjacent tenements.
Panther has also recently defined a JORC Exploration Target for nickel and cobalt at the Coglia Project ("Coglia") on the southernmost area encompassed by the Merolia project tenements. This target provided a tonnage range of 30-50Mt at 0.6 to 0.8% nickel and 400 to 600ppm cobalt. The mineralisation is developed along a lateritic horizon lying above largely ultramafic host rocks which are themselves mineralised with sulphides in places. It is expected that Panther will be able to define at least an Inferred JORC Resource with some additional drilling and other work at Coglia.
Northern Territory Projects
The Annaburroo and Marrakai gold projects comprise two granted licences (EL32140 and EL32121 respectively) covering a total area of 160km2, located from 70km to the southeast of Darwin, Northern Territory (Figure 1). The projects are situated within the Palaeoproterozoic Pine Creek Orogen ("PCO"), which hosts over 250 gold occurrences and several operating gold mines. Both licence areas are close to good infrastructure and the Toms Gully and Rustlers Roost deposits, which are owned by China Hanking Holdings Limited. Toms Gully is a high-grade underground mine containing 1.1Mt @ 8.9 g/t Au (0.3 Moz); operations are expected to recommence following recent EIA approval. Rustlers Roost contains 51Mt @ 1.0 g/t Au (1.6Moz) and is one of the largest gold projects in the region.
The project areas contain several gold prospects at Donkey Hill, Johns Reef, Chins Gully and Jasons Rise, some of which have yielded substantial quantities of gold nuggets, individually up to 30oz in weight. These prospects have all yielded high-grade gold from grab samples (e.g. c.30-60 g/t Au), trenching (e.g. 5m @ 6.68 g/t Au) and limited RAB or RC drilling (e.g. 2m @ 5.74g/t Au from surface). In more detail, several NE and NW trending linear features cut the local geology and may provide control on the distribution of gold mineralisation. These will be the focus of future ground-based exploration work. The mineralisation consists largely of sulphidic quartz veins hosted by banded greywacke and siltstones of the Finnis River, South Alligator and Mt. Partridge Groups, which are metamorphosed to lower greenschist facies. It is expected that Panther will continue to explore and ultimately drill-test several of these prospect areas during the next few years.
Panther Metals PLC:
Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer: +44(0) 1462 429 743
+44(0) 7971 957 685
Mitchell Smith, Chief Operating Officer: +1(604) 209 6678
Broker:
SI Capital Limited
Nick Emerson +44(0) 1438 416 500