REG - Panthera Resources - Cascades Drilling Results

Panthera ResourcesAnnouncement

25/05/2023 07:45

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RNS Number : 6382A  Panthera Resources PLC  25 May 2023

25 May 2023

 

 

Panthera Resources Plc

("Panthera" or "the Company")

 

Cascades Drilling Results

 

Gold exploration and development company Panthera Resources Plc (AIM: PAT),
with assets in West Africa and India, is pleased to announce the completion of
phase two of its approximately 10,000 metre drilling program (Drilling
Program) on the Cascades Project and has since received full analytical
results from our joint venture partner, DFR Gold Inc (DFR), as originally
announced by the Company on 2 May 2023.

 

Highlights of the recent drilling include:

·    5,641 m of Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling in 57 drill holes at
five target areas (announced 2 May 2022)

·    Two significant new zones confirmed with resource potential from
first pass drilling at Sina Yar and Far East targets

·    Intersections at Sina Yar included 34m@ 1.83 g/t Au and 18 metres @
1.13g/t Au

·    Extension of the 2022 discovery zone from step-out drilling at the
TT13 target

 

Mark Bolton, CEO of Panthera, stated: "These very positive results from this
drilling programme are highly encouraging, as they confirm the search models
being applied in the further testing of the extensive mineralised shear
corridor at the Cascades Project.

 

The results confirm the potential scale of the gold mineralised system at the
Cascades project through the discovery of new mineralised zones and further
delineation of existing zones.  We are encouraged by the consistent
mineralisation across the licence area and are working with DFR on the optimal
approach for the next phase of drilling."

 

A PDF version of the announcement, inclusive of images, can be found on the
Company's website or by following the link below:

 

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6382A_1-2023-5-25.pdf
(http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6382A_1-2023-5-25.pdf)

pantheraresources.com/news/regulatory-news/
(https://pantheraresources.com/news/regulatory-news/)

 

Background to the Drilling Programme

 

The recently completed programme at the Cascades Project is the first part of
a planned two-phase 10,000m programme. This first phase targeted extensions to
the current resources and several new targets:

·        two newly defined targets immediately north and southwest of
the Daramandougou resource pit shell western Zone extension, and Dara North
respectively;

·        step-out drilling on the TT13 target, a significant new gold
zone identified in 2022; and

·        first-pass drilling on three other newly delineated targets
in the Wuo Land 2 licence area at Far East, Sina Yar and TT13-West.

 

Phase two of the Drilling Programme will be a results-driven follow-on
programme targeting the highest priority results from the first phase.

 

Drilling Results

 

DFR has completed 56 drill holes for an aggregate of 5,641m (Table 1) in the
first phase of the current planned drilling programme.  Fire assay results
have been received while Bottle Roll analysis results are pending.

 

 Target Area                           Target Description                                                              Holes Drilled  Metres Drilled
 Dara North                            chargeability/resistivity anomaly; artisanal workings; proximity to resource;   8              809
                                       further along strike potential to north
 Western Zone Extn (incl NPG targets)  chargeability/resistivity anomaly; no artisanal workings; extension of          13             1,398
                                       resource structure
 TT13 Step-Out                         Tested by first pass drilling; aim to demonstrate continuity over 500 strike     10            872
                                       length; could bring the resource into the Inferred category
 TT13-West                             Newly opened artisanal zone 800 metres west of TT13 discovery; already 500       5             546
                                       metres long but along strike potential to the north; could be skinny
 Sina Yar                              Intensive artisanal workings; broad area of shallow pits but drilling focus on   9             903
                                       line/s deeper pits into bedrock; geochemical anomaly
 Far East-N                            artisanal workings; support from rock grab samples; geophysics ambiguous        5              501
 Far East-S                            artisanal workings; support from rock grab samples; geophysics ambiguous        7              612
 TOTAL                                                                                                                 57             5,641

Table 1 Details of the recently completed drilling programme at the Cascades
Gold Project

 

Sina Yar

 

Ten drill holes were drilled for an aggregate of 903 metres.  Significant
mineralisation was intersected in each hole drilled. In particular, three
consecutive holes testing 250m metres of strike length of the main north-south
trending structure in metasediments intersected significant widths of
mineralisation as follows:

 

CS23-RC077 50-84 metres, 34 metres @ 1.83g/t and

CS23-RC077 23-29 metres 6 metres @ 1.14

CS23-RC078 53-71 metres, 18 metres @ 1.13g/t and

CS23-RC078 74-78 metres,  4 metres @ 1.25g/t and

CS23-RC078 88-96 metres,  8 metres @ 1.64g/t and

CS23-RC078 103-113 metres,  10 metres @ 1.02g/t

 

The mineralisation is hosted by quartz veins within a north-south trending
mineralised envelope hosted by banded greywacke and sandstone metasedimentary
sequence. Sina Yar is currently the target of significant artisanal mining
activity over a kilometre-long strike length exploiting a north-south zone
from what appears to be a near-vertical mineralised envelope.  The zone is
open to the north and possibly to the south.

 

Mineralisation appears open to the north of the drill-tested area. In the more
southerly holes, mineralisation was weaker and patchier although artisanal
activity remains intense.  A highly altered felsitic intrusion has been
mapped towards the southern end of the Sina Yar workings, similar to the
intrusions mapped at both the Daramandougou and Wuo Ne mineral resource
areas.  Follow-up drilling is planned at Sina Yar, starting with stepping out
to the north of CS23-RC077.

 

Far East

 

The three northernmost holes at the Far East target appear to have found a
significant zone of mineralisation albeit low grade. Significant intersections
included hole CS23-RC066 32-60 metres, 28 metres @ 0.56g/t

 

Although the intersections are low grade, historical drilling by High River
Gold intersected several high-grade intercepts nearby and grab samples by DFR
in 2022 returned grades up to 9.3g/t in quartz veins being exploited by
artisanal miners.  The mineralisation appears to be open north of CS23-RC066
and the current artisanal workings appear to extend between 250 metres to 450
metres further north of CS23-RC066.

 

TT13 Target

 

The TT-13 target was tested by DFR with a first-pass drilling programme of 9
holes in July 2022. A 1,800 metre strike length of intermittent mineralisation
has been delineated from field mapping and drone surveys.  The zone is
characterised by almost continuous artisanal workings at the surface.  The
2022 drilling here delineated a 300 metre strike length with significant
mineralisation in three holes for example CS22-RC029 27-36m, 9 metres @ 1.0g/t
plus 56-66m, 10 metres @ 1.81g/t.  The current campaign targeted the
northerly and southerly extensions of the zone.  Mineralisation is sporadic
but several holes intersected significant mineralisation which extends the
zone. For example, hole CS23-RC098, collared 370 metres north of CS22-RC029,
returned 8 metres @ 1.21g/t (30-38 metres) plus 4 metres @ 1.81g/t (63-67
metres).

 

TT-13 West target

 

In the first pass drilling at the newly delineated TT-13 West target five
easterly inclined holes targeted a vertical shear zone in a new orpaillage
area 800 metres west of the TT13 target.  The artisans are targeting an array
of thin, reportedly high-grade, quartz veins in metasediment but the
mineralisation intersected has been sporadic.  The highest grade intersected
in the drilling was CS23-RC086, 61-62 metres downhole, 1 metre @11.6g/t
gold.  The broadest intercept was in CS23-RC088 63-78 metres, 15 metres @
0.88g/t.

 

Western Zone SW-Extension and Dara North targets

 

Drilling at the Dara North and the  Southwestern Extension of the Western
Zone was targeted primarily at combined resistivity/chargeability geophysics
anomalies and at each target significant mineralisation was only intersected
over sub-mineable widths. At Dara North, a pervasive linear zone of artisanal
mining confirms the northerly extension of Western Zone mineralisation from
the main Daramandougou artisanal area. However, the mineralised zone appears
to be thin and sporadic within the 750 metres of strike length tested.

 

About Cascades

 

The Cascades project (formerly called Labola) is owned and managed by Moydow
Holdings Ltd (Moydow). Panthera currently holds an equity interest of 20% in
Moydow with DFR earning an 80% interest and is the operator. DFR has agreed to
spend up to US$18 million (Earn-In) on Cascades and increase its ownership
interest up to 80% in Moydow.  Upon completion of the Earn-In, Panthera holds
the right to increase its interest by 10%, for example, from 20% to 30%, for a
cost of US$7.2 million.

 

The Cascades gold exploration project is in the Banfora greenstone belt of the
West African Birimian Supergroup in southwest Burkina Faso. Cascades is
approximately 450km west-southwest of the capital, Ouagadougou, and 100km
northeast of the Wahgnion gold mine, operated by Endeavour Mining.

 

More than 65,500m of historical drilling (541 holes) has been completed across
multiple drilling campaigns by previous owners, High River Gold Mines Limited
("HRG"), later acquired by Nord Gold Plc, and Taurus Gold Limited ("Taurus"),
consisting of principally diamond and RC drilling (24,589m/39,339m,
respectively).  Mineralisation has been intercepted by historical drilling
and outlined by previous artisanal mining in three main zones over a 10 km
strike length.

 

Moydow has explored the area since August 2020, including the acquisition and
compilation of all previous data into a single database, interpretation of
this data, target generation using the database and all the acquired remote
sensing information, and a Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program involving
31 holes. This culminated in the announcement of the maiden mineral resource
estimate in 2021 in accordance with the provisions of the Canadian National
Instrument 43-101 - "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" ("NI
43-101") (see RNS dated 25 October 2021):

 

Indicated mineral resource estimate:     5.41Mt @ 1.52g/t Au (264,000oz)

Inferred mineral resource estimate:       6.93Mt @ 1.67g/t Au
(371,000oz)

 

Note on the Laboratory Assays

 

All assays referenced here are for Fire Assay analyses performed by SGS
Laboratories in Ouagadougou.  All samples reported here were either one-metre
primary samples or composites of three one-metre primary samples. Splits (3kg)
of one-metre primary samples from selected mineralised intersections have been
prepared for the "Leachwell" bottle rolls. Experience from comparisons between
fire assay and bottle roll analyses from previous drilling programmes at the
Cascades Project points to a likely small percentage increase in grade for
bottle rolls versus fire assays.

 

This drilling report will be updated when all of the Bottle Roll analysis
results have been received.

 

Artisanal Miners at Cascades

 

DFR was notified by the relevant authorities of a recent incident involving
unlawful artisanal miners in which a ground collapse resulted in fatalities at
a location within the Cascades 304km(2) exploration licence area.  The
artisanal mining activity is not sanctioned by the mining regulators, DFR or
the Company.  DFR continues to support the relevant authorities in their
investigation of this tragic incident.

 

Contacts

 

Panthera Resources PLC

Mark Bolton (Managing
Director)
+61 411 220 942

 
contact@pantheraresources.com

 

Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser & Joint
Broker)             +44 (0) 20 3328 5656

John Depasquale / Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate Finance)

Kelly Gardiner / Stefano Aquilino (Sales & Corporate Broking)

 

Novum Securities Limited (Joint
Broker)
+44 (0) 20 7399 9400

Colin
Rowbury

 

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Follow the Company on Twitter at @PantheraPLC
(https://twitter.com/PantheraPlc)

 

For more information and to subscribe to updates visit: pantheraresources.com
(http://pantheraresources.com)

 

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this disclosure has been read and
approved by Ian S Cooper (BSc, ARSM, FAusIMM, FGS), who is a qualified
geologist and acts as the Qualified Person under the AIM Rules - Note for
Mining and Oil & Gas Companies.  Mr Cooper is a geological consultant to
Panthera Resources PLC.

 

UK Market Abuse Regulation (UK MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information for the purposes of Regulation 11 of the Market
Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310. Upon the publication of this
announcement via a Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside
information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the
Company's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking statements are
frequently characterised by words such as "plan", "expect", "project",
"intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "suggest", "indicate" and other
similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will"
occur. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to
differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or
expressed in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among
others: the actual results of current exploration activities; conclusions of
economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be
refined; possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour
disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining
governmental approvals or financing; and fluctuations in metal prices. There
may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as
anticipated, estimated or intended. Any forward-looking statement speaks only
as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by
applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to
update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and accordingly, undue reliance should not be
put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

 

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