Fulcrum Metals PLC Placing, Proposed AIM Admission

RNS Number : 5234P

Panther Metals PLC

10 February 2023

 

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THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF REGULATION 2014/596/EU WHICH IS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIIONS (SI 2019/310) ("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

PANTHER METALS PLC

("Panther" or the "Company")

(Incorporated in the Isle of Man with company number 009753V)

10 February 2023

Fulcrum Metals PLC: Placing and Proposed AIM Admission

Panther Metals PLC (LSE:PALM) the company focused on mineral exploration in Canada, is pleased to note that Fulcrum Metals PLC ("Fulcrum") have announced the successful pricing of an initial public offering (the "IPO") and conditional placing (the "Placing") of 17,142,857 Shares at 17.5 pence per ordinary share (the "Placing Price") to raise gross proceeds of approximately £3 million.

It is expected that Fulcrum's Admission to AIM and dealings in its ordinary shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange plc will commence at 8:00am on 14 February 2023 ("Admission") under the TIDM "FMET" with a market capitalisation at the Placing Price of £8.725million.  The ISIN of the Ordinary Shares is GB00BPCPPZ79.

Upon Admission Panther will hold a total of 9,971,839 ordinary shares in Fulcrum representing a 20% interest in the entire issued share capital of Fulcrum, valuing Panther's interest at £1.745m at the Placing Price. In addition, Panther hold a total 714,286 warrants exercisable at 17.5p with a two-year life from the date of Admission and a further 476,190 warrants exercisable at 26.25p with a three-year life.

The Admission of Fulcrum concludes the sale of the Big Bear Project as announced 7 April 2022. Panther retains a 2% net smelter return ("NSR") royalty over the Big Bear Project and is in receipt of a £200,000 cash payment from Fulcrum.

Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"I congratulate Ryan and his team on delivering an outstanding raise and bringing Fulcrum Metals onto the public market in such a strong position. The Big Bear Project has outstanding potential and well deserves the injection of capital that Fulcrum are planning. With the successful listing the Fulcrum team will now have all the tools at their disposal to deliver value.

Over the past three years since we listed, over a challenging market and over a period of global turmoil, Panther Metals have accomplished much in the relatively short space of time. We have built-up and divested assets in Canada and Australia to allow us to create value and broaden our reach whilst not destroying our capital structure.

Our exploration results and discoveries over the last six months, both from our Obonga Project and Manitou Lakes, continue to drive underlying value. Our confidence in the Dotted Lake Property has been reinforced by the exploration successes of our project neighbours Palladium One, ratifying its prospectivity and our own mineral system model for the property.

Panther's focus is now squarely levelled on delivering shareholder returns from the vast mineral potential held in our exploration portfolio.  We will manage our external holdings to the benefit of the business and our shareholders.

We currently have no plans for a capital raise and I look forward to updating the market on how we intend to advance our exciting portfolio of assets, in a timely manner."

Ryan Mee, Chief Executive Officer of Fulcrum Metals, commented:

"We are delighted to be announcing our intention to list on AIM and the successful fundraise of £3 million. The funds will be used to support our strategy - to focus on discovery and the commercialisation of our projects through targeted exploration programmes with a view to bringing them up the value chain and ultimately to secure potential joint venture partner or acquisition interest.

"I am particularly encouraged by investor appetite for our company, which I believe speaks volumes for the quality of our projects and the expertise of our team. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all directors, advisers and stakeholders for their hard work and commitment and our new investors for their support."

Further Details

Fulcrum Metals plc was incorporated in England & Wales on 10 October 2022 and is the holding company of a mineral exploration group with base, precious and energy metal projects in Canada. Canada is a politically stable jurisdiction that is rich in mineral resources.

The net proceeds of the Fulcrum Placing will be used to capitalise on the potential of their multi-commodity portfolio of base, precious and energy metals, in Canada a jurisdiction which is politically stable and rich in mineral resources, by advancing them through the value chain.

On Admission its project portfolio will comprise six gold and base metal projects in Ontario totalling 252km2, covering the Schreiber-Hemlo, Wawa, Winston Lake and Dayohessarah Greenstone Belts, and two uranium and gold projects in the Northern Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan totalling 136km2 (the "Projects").

The Projects are pre-discovery with large, diversified land packages that have either substantial historical samples or prospective geology and located nearby mineral rich deposits or producing mines. Fulcrum sees the uranium projects as an opportunity to capitalise on the increasing global recognition and investment towards nuclear energy as a way of decarbonising base load power.

The main focus of Fulcrum is to advance, develop, and scale the flagship Schreiber-Hemlo Project comprising the Big Bear and Jackfish Lake properties whereby the Group has amassed a significant land position of circa 113km2. The properties have 38 recorded mineral occurrences, high grade gold in rock samples and shear zones that have real potential for the discovery and development of an economic mineral deposit.

Conditional on Admission, Fulcrum has raised approximately £3.0 million (before expenses). The net proceeds from the Placing are intended to be used to progress the Projects through targeted exploration programmes, with a primary focus on advancing the flagship Schreiber-Hemlo properties and establishing the prospectivity of its wider Ontario portfolio with a view to securing a potential joint venture or acquisition interest.

Panther has entered into a relationship agreement with, inter alia, Fulcrum on usual terms to ensure the relationship between the two entities is conducted on an arm's length basis and a lock-up agreement, restricting the sale, and terms of sale, by Panther of its interest in Fulcrum, for certain time periods on usual market terms. Further details of these arrangements can be found in the Admission document which will be published on Fulcrum's website upon Admission.

For further information please contact:

Panther Metals PLC:

Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer:   [phone]

  [phone]

Mitchell Smith, Chief Operating Officer:    [phone]

Broker:

SI Capital Limited

Nick Emerson     [phone]

Notes to Editors

Panther Metals PLC is an exploration company listed on the standard segment of the official list and whose shares are admitted to trading on the main market for listed securities 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.

Big Bear Project

The acquisition of various prospects in 2018 and 2019 consolidated previously fragmented areas into the wider Big Bear umbrella project, priming Panther Metals for extensive and comprehensive exploration in the area. A total of 253 geophysical anomalies have been identified, with 39 designated for priority investigation. Gold in soil anomalies in have been identified in five areas, ranging up to 0.71g/t, extending up to 250m wide and open along strike. Gold bearing quartz veins have been outlined within seven separate areas (two with rock and vein samples grading 1 to 5 g/t Au, four with quartz vein sample assays above 5g/t Au, and two quartz samples collected at 50m separation on an E-W trending vein open in both directions returning 105.5g/t Au and 112g/t Au respectively).

The Little Bear Lake and Schreiber prospects are of particular interest to the company: historic work programmes in 2010 and 2011 targeted an intense magnetic response from both. Assays yielded from the 1.6km long gold trend included 6m at 1.5g/t Au, up to 53.7g/t Au and 19.25 g/t Ag in rock chip and 18.2g/t Au and 1.03g/t Ag in soil. Historical bulk sampling reported 150t averaging 17.6g/t Au, while historical drill intersections include 0.55m at 19.2% Zn and 4.6% Cu from 15.2m depth.

Panther Metals Australia

Following the listing of Panther's Australian assets on the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX") in December 2021, the valuation of the Company's 36.6% holding in the business has risen by over 30% to a valuation of almost £3m. 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 with that operational focus Panther will continue to advance.

 

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