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PANTHER METALS
PLC
("Panther" or the "Company")
(Incorporated in the Isle of
Man with company number 009753V)
22 July 2024
Dotted Lake: Award of
Exploration Permit
Panther Metals plc (LSE:PALM) the
company focused on mineral exploration in Canada, is pleased to
announce the receipt of Exploration Permit PR-23-000215 (the
"Permit") covering the Awkward West Prospect ("Awkward") at the
Company's Obonga Project ("Obonga") located on the Obonga
Greenstone Belt in northern Ontario.
The Permit is valid through to 17
July 2027 and allows for a comprehensive programme of critical
mineral discovery focussed works on the highly prospective
intrusive linked nickel-copper-cobalt and Platinum Group Metal targe in the north-east of the Dotted
Lake project area. Details of the exciting target are outlined
below.
Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer,
commented:
"Dotted Lake has generated a huge amount of interest since the
Canadian listed exploration junior 'GT Resources Inc' began
unravelling the new district scale potential along their Tyko One
Belt - a target that ultimately led to Glencore taking a stake in
that business.
The parallels drawn between those discoveries and what is
known about the north shore of Dotted Lake has not been missed by
the industry. To date I've fended off any interest; for a junior
explorer to have this strength of target, in proximity and
comparable to GT's greenfield success, is a rare situation, and
Panther's potential for growth is highly favourable given the
technical similarities. Owning 100% of this project with no
underlying financial instruments has strengthened our hand, the
Exploration Permit was the only requirement, and excitedly this is
now in place.
With the Permit now in place our options expand. All options
will naturally be considered, but in the true spirit of
exploration, risk capital deserves the opportunity for the greatest
return.
Currently almost no opportunity exists outside of GT Resources
for anyone else to enter this new district. Panther has already
constructed a trail on the property and so combined with historic
logging roads, the required infrastructure is largely in
place.
With our 3D geophysical modelling on the north shore underway
and discussions at an advanced stage in Canada on how we will
finance and conduct a comprehensive programme at Dotted Lake, I
look forward to updating the market in the very near
future."
Table 1: Exploration Permit and Prospect
Details
Exploration Permit
Application Number (Administrative Area & Claim
numbers)
|
Prospect Name
(location)
|
Targeting &
Exploration Rational
|
Requested
Activities
|
PR-23-000215
(Black
River and Olga Lake areas
Cells:
541544 ,541545 ,541546 ,541547 ,541548 ,541549 ,541550 ,541551
,548348 ,548349 ,548350 ,548351 ,548352 ,548353 ,548354 ,548355
,548356 ,548357 ,548358 ,548359 ,548362 ,548363 ,548364 ,548365
,548366 ,550121 ,550122 ,550124 ,550125 ,550126 ,550127 ,550128
,550129 ,550130 ,600373 ,600379 ,600380 ,600384 ,600386 ,600387
,600388 ,600390 ,600391 ,600392 ,600394 ,600395 ,600396 ,600397
,600399 ,600404 ,600409 ,600410 ,600413 ,600415 ,600418 ,600419
,600421)
|
Intrusive related Critical
Mineral Target
(Ni, Cu, Co, Zn &
PGE)
(north
and northeast of Dotted Lake property)
|
Distinct
2.8km long linear trend of soil anomalies coincident with the
geophysical signature of an interpreted ultramafic body.
Additional coincident electromagnetic and magnetic target
associated with Cu soil anomalies along strike from a known Zn
occurrence.
Historical soil anomalies peaking at 614ppm Ni ,
861 ppm
Cu and 214 ppm Co located east along strike from multi
element anomalies identified by Panther's soil survey
grid.
|
· Mechanised Drilling (15
diamond core drill pads)
· Electromagnetic ("EM")
and Induced Polarisation ("IP") Geophysics with associated line
cutting
· Up to 36 planned pits /
trenches
· Stripping (unto 10
localities)
· Exploration
camps
· Access trails
|
Figure 1: Dotted Lake Exploration Permit PR-23-000215
Permitted, Claim Cells, Drill Pads, Camp and
Access
Dotted Lake Project Background: Critical Mineral
Potential
·
Total Area: 36.9 km2
·
Prospective for: Base Metals (Nickel, Cobalt,
Copper, Zinc) and Precious Metals (Gold, Silver, and Platinum Group
Metals)
·
Significant Neighbours: Barrick Gold (Hemlo Mine)
to south, GT Resources (TSXV: GT) (Glencore 16.7% stake) to
east.
The Dotted Lake Project encompasses
a substantial 36.9 km² within the North Limb of the Schreiber-Helmo
Greenstone Belt, situated 16 km north of Barrick Gold's Hemlo Gold
Mine which has produced over 22 Moz of gold over 30 years to date
and 9 km from GT Resources recent discovery at West Pickle
Lake on their Tyko One Belt. The area is considered very
prospective for ultramafic intrusive related nickel and base metal
mineralisation as well as gold.
The Dotted Lake area has undergone
Panther's airborne electromagnetic and magnetics geophysics survey,
extensive soil sampling and stratigraphic drilling, laying the
groundwork for potential discoveries. Three dimensional
inversion modelling of Panther's geophysical data is currently
underway.
Figure 2: Location of the Dotted Lake Project, East of Thunder
Bay, Ontario, Canada
Panther Metals acquired 100% of the
Dotted Lake Project in July 2020. An extensive soil programme
conducted in 2021 identified numerous gold and base metal targets,
all within the same geological footprint as Hemlo. Following the
reopening of a historical trail providing direct access to the
target location, an initial drilling programme in the autumn of
2021 confirmed the presence of gold mineralisation within this
system with anomalous gold continuing along strike and present
within the surrounding area. Dotted Lake sits upon
2.7 billion year old, Archaean age, rocks that form the
north-eastern 'Dotted Lake Arm' of the Schreiber-Hemlo Greenstone
Belt. Geology consists sequences of foliated, fine grained,
dark green, amphibole rich metavolcanic rocks situated within an
east-northeast trending isoclinal syncline. The metavolcanics have
been intruded by granitoid rocks of the Dotted Lake Batholith in
the southeast of the property whilst In the northeast an ultramafic
intrusive complex flanks the two.
On 22 February 2021, Panther Metals
announced the receipt of the processed high-resolution Airborne
TDEM and Mag geophysics survey data and associated maps and report
over the Dotted Lake Property on the north limb of the
Schreiber-Hemlo greenstone belt in Ontario, Canada. Prospectair
Geosurveys had conducted the helicopter 818 line-km survey over a
series of seven flights between 9-11 December 2020. A total of
138 geophysical anomalies were identified by the survey, with high
priority anomalies prioritised for follow-up ground
investigation.
In June 2021, Panther Metals
contracted the experienced Thunder Bay based Fladgate Exploration
Consulting Corporation to undertake a soil geochemistry sampling
programme over a 1.60km by 0.85km target area. The soil
geochemistry survey was designed to build out and in-fill the
westerly strike extensions of high grade gold mineralisation
intersected by historical trenching undertaken by a previous
licence holder in 2010 (Tr-10-4) and as confirmed during Panther
Metals' reconnaissance sampling (gold up to 18.9g/t Au) announced 5
November 2020. The soil survey provided important geochemical
coverage of target structures outlined by Panther's airborne
geophysical survey (see Figures 3 & 4) and delineated a 1.3km
long shear-related gold anomaly striking westward from the site of
Panther's Dotted Lake drill hole. A total
of 18 multi-element anomalies were also identified including areas
of very strong nickel in soil.
Figure 3: Dotted Lake Geochemical Soil Sampling
Anomalies
Nickel and Cobalt
Targets
Panther also digitised historical
exploration data in conjunction with the airborne and soil survey
data. This work defined a new area, in the northeast of the Dotted
Lake property, which is also considered very prospective zone for
nickel mineralisation and which is underlain by an ultramafic
intrusive complex. The historical geochemical soil survey data
based on work undertaken by Clear Mines Ltd in August 1983, shows a
2.8km long linear broadly east-west striking zone of elevated
nickel in soil coinciding with a mapped ultramafic / gabbro
intrusive unit and a distinct geophysical anomaly (Figure
5).
The Clear Mines Survey consisted of
577 soil samples analysed for 27 elements, collected on a series of
north-south lines directly to the east of the Panther 2021 soil
survey area. Nickel is elevated across the prospect area defined by
highs ranging 137 - 235 ppm Ni and peaking at 614ppm Ni in the
eastern end. Other soil anomalies across the Ni Target include
cobalt (Co) up to 214 ppm Co and copper (Cu) up to 861 ppm
Cu.
The western end of the ultramafic
intrusive is shown on government mapping to lie beneath the lake,
however the geophysics survey and the Panther soil survey data
indicates that the intrusive rocks extend further to the west and
may underlie the soil survey Anomaly A and Anomaly C (Figure 4) as
reported 9 November 2021.
Panther's Ni Target is located 9km
west of a new zone of massive nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation
drilled by GT Resources (TSXV: GT) at their Tyko
Project.
Figure 4: Panther Soil Nickel Results and Clear Mines Survey
Historical Soil Assay Results
Figure 5: Map Showing Highly Anomalous Soil Geochemical
Results over Airbourne Total Magnetic Intensity Magnetics and
Electromagnetic Imagery
For further information please
contact:
Panther Metals PLC:
Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive
Officer:
+44(0)
1462 429 743
+44(0) 7971 957 685
Brokers:
Tavira Financial
Limited
Christopher James
Kipling
+44(0) 203
833 3743
SI Capital Limited
Nick
Emerson
+44(0) 1438 416 500
Axis Capital Markets
Limited
Ben Tadd
Lewis
Jones
+44 (0)20 3026 0449
Notes to Editors
Panther Metals PLC is an exploration
company listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
Panther is focussed on the discovery of commercially viable mineral
deposits. The Company's operational focus is on established mining
jurisdictions with the capacity for project scalability. Drill
targets are assessed rapidly utilising a combination of advanced
technologies and extensive geological data to decipher potential
commercial viability and act accordingly. Panther's current
geological portfolio comprises of three highly prospective
properties in Ontario, Canada while the developing investment wing
focuses on the targeting of nickel and gold in
Australia.
Obonga Project
Panther Metals acquired the Obonga
Greenstone Belt in July 2021 and have already identified five
prospective primary targets: Wishbone, Awkward, Survey, Ottertooth
and Silver Rim. A successful Phase 1 drilling campaign at Wishbone
in Autumn 2021 revealed the presence of significant VMS-style
mineralised systems on the property - the first such discovery
across the entire greenstone belt. Intercepts include 27.3m of
massive sulphide in hole one, and 51m of sulphide-dominated
mineralisation in hole two. Both drill holes contained multiple
lenses. Anomalous high-grade copper in lake sediment close to the
target area has also been identified, increasing confidence in the
prospectivity of the location.
Awkward is a highly anomalous
magnetic target, interpreted to be a layered mafic intrusion and
magmatic conduit based on mapped geology and airborne geophysics.
Historic sampling in the area returned anomalous platinum and
palladium (Pt, Pd) values, while historic drilling on the periphery
of the target intersected non-assayed massive sulphide and copper
(assumed to be chalcopyrite), non-assayed disseminated pyrite and
chalcopyrite in coarse gabbro, and non-assayed 'marble cake' gabbro
(matching the description of the Lac des Iles Mine varitexture
gabbro ore zone).
Two additional named targets, Survey
and Ottertooth, both displays further coincident magnetic and
electromagnetic anomalies and are adjacent to the contact between
intrusive and extrusive mafic rocks. Historic drilling at Survey
intersected several meters of massive sulphides in multiple
intersections (main parts of the anomaly remain untested) while
Ottertooth remains untested in its entirety.
Dotted Lake Project
Panther Metals acquired the Dotted
Lake Project in July 2020, it is situated approximately 16km from
Barrick Gold's renowned Hemlo Gold Mine. An extensive soil
programme conducted in 2021 identified numerous gold and base metal
targets, all within the same geological footprint. Following the
installation of a new trail providing direct access to the target
location, an initial drilling programme in Autumn 2021 confirmed
the presence of gold mineralisation within this system with
anomalous gold continuing along strike and present within the
surrounding area.
Manitou Lakes Project
The Manitou Lakes gold project is
located approximately 300km's east of Thunder Bay, Ontario and
covers a total area of around 98sq km's.
There are over 200 known gold
occurrences on the Manitou Lakes project area with the wider
Eagle/Manitou Lakes greenstone belt hosting numerous historic gold
producers and is prospective for Archean age orogenic gold and
associated base metal deposits.
Exploration work conducted by Shear
Gold on the Project to date has identified numerous gold bearing
structures and favourable geological host rocks through early-stage
mapping and surface sampling. The work has focussed on two target
areas, being the West Limb Gold Property and the Glass Reef Gold
Property, both of which host historic gold mines which have never
been systematically explored using modern techniques or drill
tested
Fulcrum Metals Plc
Fulcrum Metals PLC (LON: FMET) is an
AIM listed exploration company which finances and manages
exploration projects focused on Canada, widely recognised as a top
mining jurisdiction.
FMET currently holds a beneficial
100% interest in highly prospective gold and base metals projects
in Ontario and Uranium projects in Saskatchewan.
Fulcrum's strategy is to focus on
discovery and commercialisation of its Projects through targeted
exploration programmes. The primary focus is to make an economic
discovery on the flagship Schreiber-Hemlo Properties and
establishing the prospectivity of its wider Ontario and
Saskatchewan portfolio with a view to securing potential joint
venture and/or acquisition interest.
Panther Metals Plc own 15% of the
issued share capital of Fulcrum Metals Plc and a 2% NSR on the Big
Bear project.
Panther Metals Australia
Following the listing of Panther
Metals' Australian assets on the Australian Securities Exchange
("ASX") in December 2021. The ASX listing has provided the
Australian projects with the necessary capital to advance
drill-ready targets focused on nickel and gold (within the Tier 1
Mining Districts of Laverton WA and in the NT). Through this
spin-out Panther holds an attractive investment prospect, without
any disruption to the Company's capital structure and without any
financial obligations.
Conclusion
Panther Metals understand that the
commercial realities of building an exploration company requires
expertise in geology, finance, and the markets within which they
operate. The Company's extensive network of industry leaders allows
it to meet these objectives. Ultimately however, drilling success
is the only route to discovery: the fundamental objective of any
exploration company. Once Panther's world-class geological team
identify the anomalies, they work hard to get drilling. The drill
hole is the only place where substantial and sustained capital
growth originates and it's with that operational focus Panther
Metals will continue to advance.