Conditional Placing to raise £1,148,000
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, NEW ZEALAND OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
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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) REGULATIONS (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.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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PANTHER METALS PLC
("Panther" or the "Company")
(Incorporated in the Isle of Man with company number 009753V)
2 August 2022
Conditional Placing to raise £1,148,000
Panther Metals plc (LSE:PALM) the company focused on mineral exploration in Canada, announces the completion of conditional placing, confirming it has placed 22,960,000 ordinary shares of no par value (the "Placing Shares") at a price of 5.5 pence per Placing Share (the "Placing Price") in a placing (the "Placing"), raising gross proceeds of £1,148,000. The Placing is subject to the publication of a prospectus and applications have been made to the Financial Conduct Authority for admission of the Placing Shares to the standard listing segment of the Official List and to the London Stock Exchange (the "LSE") for admission to trading of the Placing Shares on the LSE's Main Market for listed securities (together "Admission"). It is expected that the prospectus will be published on 15 August 2022 and Admission will take place at 8.00 a.m. on 17 August 2022, with dealings in the Placing Shares on the LSE's Main Market for listed securities also commence at 8.00 a.m. on 17 August 2022.
Each Placing Share will be issued with one warrant attached entitling the holder to subscribe for one new ordinary share at a price of 8.5 pence (the "Warrants"). The Warrants have a life of 36 months from the date of Admission and are subject to an accelerator so that in the event that the Company's shares trade at a volume weighted average price of 20 pence or more for five of more trading days (the "Accelerator Target") the Company is obligated to give notice to holders of the Warrants that any outstanding Warrants must be exercised within 14 calendar days' and on 14 calendar days' settlement terms. If the Accelerator Target is achieved, any Warrants not so exercised will lapse.
The Placing Shares being issued will represent approximately 24.35% of the Company's enlarged Ordinary Share capital following the Placing.
The Placing Price represents a 12% discount to the mid-market closing price of the Company's shares on 1 August 2022, the date of the arrangement of the Placing.
SI Capital Limited acted as sole placing agent in respect of the Placing.
When issued, the Placing Shares will be credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares in the share capital of the Company, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared, made, or paid on or in respect of such shares after the date of issue of the Placing Shares.
The Company will seek convene a general meeting shortly to seek new authorities to allot shares generally (given that the Placing utilises the authorities taken at the last annual general meeting in full) and for specific authority to allot a further 1,920,000 shares pursuant to the exercise of the Warrants to be issued in connection with the Placing.
Use of the Placing Proceeds
The net Placing proceeds will primarily be used to fund exploration drilling work in Canada with the primary focus on diamond drilling (up to 3,000m total planned) at the Obonga Project where current permits allow diamond drilling over five separate high prospective multi-commodity targets.
The forthcoming Obonga Project 2022 Diamond Drilling Programme will include the following permitted drilling targets:
Wishbone Prospect - 6 drillholes (up to 1,200m total) planned. Targeting base metals. Drilling will follow-up on the successful discovery of volcanogenic massive sulphide ("VMS") mineralisation by the two hole diamond drilling campaign in the autumn of 2021 The 2021 drill hole intercepts included 27.3m of massive sulphide in hole 1 and 51m of sulphide-dominated mineralisation in hole 2;
Awkward Prospect - 3 drillholes (up to 600m total) planned. Targeting platinum group element ("PGE") and nickel mineralisation. Awkward is a highly anomalous coincident magnetic and electromagnetic ("EM") geophysics target interpreted to be a layered mafic intrusion and magmatic conduit based on EM plate-modelling commissioned by Panther. Historic sampling has confirmed the presence of anomalous platinum and palladium values, while historic drilling on the periphery of the target has confirmed massive sulphide mineralisation hosted in coarse gabbro and "marble cake' gabbro matching the description of the varitexture gabbro ore zone at the Impala Lac des Iles PGE mine;
Survey Prospect - 3 drillholes (up to 600m total) planned. Survey is an anomalous magnetic and EM target adjacent to contact between intrusive mafic rocks and extrusive mafic rocks. One historic drill hole, despite only reaching a depth of 23.5m, intersected several meters of massive sulphides in multiple intersections, of which the main parts were not tested;
Ottertooth Prospect - 2 drillholes (up to 400m total) planned. Targeting VMS style mineralisation including copper, lead, zinc, silver and gold. Ottertooth is an anomalous magnetic and EM target adjacent to the contact between intrusive mafic rocks and extrusive mafic rocks and sharing distinctive geological similarities to the Survey Prospect. Unlike the Survey Prospect, Ottertooth is entirely untested historically or by the Company; and
Silver Rim Prospect - 1 hole (up to 200m) planned. Targeting intrusion hosted nickel, copper and precious metals. Silver Rim is an anomalous magnetic and EM geophysics target. Anomalous lithium has been identified in lake sediment at the target, while silver has been identified through soil sampling. No historic drilling has been conducted and the area remains otherwise untested.
In addition to the planned diamond drilling at Obonga the Placing proceeds will also be used to advance gold focussed exploration work at the Dotted Lake Project and the Manitou Lakes Project and in support of the Company's working capital requirements.
Total Voting Rights
Following Admission, the Company's total issued share capital consists of 94,301,339 Ordinary Shares. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury.
Therefore, following Admission, the total number of voting rights in Panther Metals plc is 94,301,339. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"In a challenging market explorers must face tough choices; at Panther Metals we have studiously built the business during a time of unprecedented upheaval. We now sit at a pivot point with multiple permitted drill-ready targets, any one of which could transform the Company and propel us onto the next level.
In committing to this financing, the Board was left with three options: raise to "keep the lights on"; raise to drill a single target that would likely see us quickly returning to the Market; or raise to embark on one of the most audacious, cost effective, discovery drilling campaigns ever conducted by a Canada-focussed London listed junior. We chose the latter.
Dilutive events are an inevitability of investing in the exploration sector and this raise is undoubtedly a painful one for all our existing shareholders. However, this financing also provides the greatest opportunity to transform Panther Metals.
We are embarking on a campaign that will see us drill fifteen holes at five separate targets on the Obonga Greenstone Belt from late summer into autumn, including at Wishbone, following our discovery of a VMS system last autumn. Our targets are prospective for Copper, Nickel, Platinum group metals, Lithium, Gold and Silver.
Fully funded to conduct our campaign we enter the most exciting period in our history and I look forward to updating the market as we progress over the coming months."
For further information please contact:
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
The person who arranged for the release of this announcement was Darren Hazelwood, CEO of the Company.
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 acquired the Obonga Greenstone Belt in July 2021 and have already identified four prospective primary targets: Wishbone, Awkward, Survey and Ottertooth. 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 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.
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 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 Metals' 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 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 will continue to advance.
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