REG - Panthera Resources - West Africa Exploration Update

Panthera ResourcesAnnouncement

09/12/2021 07:00

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RNS Number : 1071V  Panthera Resources PLC  09 December 2021

9 December 2021

 

 

Panthera Resources Plc

("Panthera" or "the Company")

 

West Africa Exploration Update

 

Panthera Resources Plc (AIM: PAT), the diversified gold exploration and
development company with assets in West Africa and India, is pleased to
announce that drilling has been completed at the Kalaka Project in Mali and
the rig has now commenced drilling a 9,000 metres AC programme at the Bassala
Project in Mali.

 

Highlights

·       2,437m AC drilling completed in 94 drill holes at Kalaka

·       Five targets were tested with a further two partially tested

·       Strong iron oxide after sulphides, quartz veining and shearing
logged in target zones

·       Kalaka samples were submitted to the laboratory with assay
results expected in late December 2021

·       Rig relocated to Bassala to complete a substantial drilling
programme

·       Drilling will test the remaining nine targets at Bassala in an
area of intense artisanal workings

·       Drilling will also follow up significant results from the 13
targets drilled in July 2021

·       Initial Bassala assay results expected from January 2022

 

Commenting on the announcement, Mark Bolton, Managing Director of Panthera
said:

 

"The combination of shallow AC drilling targeting chargeability anomalies
continues to be an excellent targeting tool at our West African projects, with
strong alteration intersected at all targets tested by the recent Kalaka
programme.  Assay results are eagerly awaited and should be available later
in December 2021.

 

Drilling has now re-commenced at the Bassala project, where ore grade
intersections were returned from the previous drilling programme in July
2021.  We are now testing the remaining targets that include the most intense
artisanal workings in the project area as well as testing extensions to the
more significant drilling results from earlier in the year."

 

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

 

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1071V_1-2021-12-9.pdf
(http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1071V_1-2021-12-9.pdf)

 

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

 

Kalaka

The Kalaka Project is located over the regional scale Banifin Shear Zone in
southwestern Mali, approximately 200km southeast of the capital city Bamako.

 

The + 7Moz Morila gold mine is located approximately 70km to the north and the
plus 6Moz Syama gold mine is located approximately 100km to the southeast.

 

Kalaka is held by our associated company, Moydow Holdings Ltd (Moydow). As
previously announced on 25 August 2021, on the closing of the acquisition of
Moydow by Diamond Fields Resources Inc., Panthera will hold a 50% interest in
and operate the Kalaka Project.

 

Considerable work has been undertaken on the project by previous explorers
Anglogold Ashanti and Golden Spear Mali SARL (current JV partner) ("GSM"),
including:

·        7,349 soil samples

·        909 line kilometres airborne magnetics and EM

·        9,846m RAB drilling in 235 drill holes

·        3,095m AC drilling in 80 drill holes

·        4,258m RC drilling in 39 drill holes

·        3,753m diamond drilling in 18 drill holes

 

This work culminated in the identification of the K1A prospect, a large,
low-grade gold deposit with drill intercepts over 700m of strike including:

·        249.3m @ 0.54g/t Au from 52m (to end of hole) including 8m @
3.17g/t Au from 107m

·        191.8m @ 0.52g/t Au from 9m (to end of hole) including 4m @
2.47g/t Au from 196m

·        176.4m @ 0.49g/t Au from 24m (to end of hole) including 8m @
1.83g/t Au

 

Several additional targets were also identified, generally with gold
mineralisation between 0.3 and 0.9 g/t Au, suggesting very large tonnages of
low-grade gold mineralisation are likely to be present.

 

Interpretation by Panthera, Moydow and GSM indicates the soil sampling is only
effective in a few of the areas tested, due to transported laterite and
alluvium masking the geochemical response of bedrock in much of the area.  It
was also found that the K1A prospect is defined very precisely by a
chargeability high obtained in a test IP survey.  The IP survey area was
subsequently expanded twice and now covers most of the southern half of the
tenement area, where surface geochemistry is generally not very reliable.

 

This work defined twenty chargeability highs, many of higher intensity than
that over K1A.  These are all considered to be good drill targets and the
higher intensity suggests more sulphides may be present and potentially higher
gold grades due to more intense alteration.  This shows a zone of interpreted
black graphitic shales defined by very high conductivity, with areas on either
side with lower conductivity that are interpreted as non-graphitic
metasediments and/or volcanics.  A large, roughly oval-shaped zone of low
conductivity, low chargeability and generally moderate resistivity with
margins of high resistivity are interpreted as a granitoid intrusion.  The
metasediments appear to wrap around this and several areas of interpreted
pressure shadows (favourable structural sites for gold mineralisation) are
noted, particularly at Targets 1 to 5.

 

The main targets tested by the current drill programme are summarised below:

 

 Target 1:   A discrete, high-intensity chargeability high that appears to cut across
             interpreted stratigraphy and is located within the pressure shadow of an
             interpreted granitoid intrusion.  It has low resistivity and moderate
             conductivity suggesting some graphite or more massive sulphides may be
             present.  A zone of intense abandoned artisanal mining activity consisting of
             over 1000 shafts targeting the base of laterite and top of weakly weathered
             bedrock over an area of about 1000m by 200m.  This is sub-parallel to but
             slightly offset from the chargeability high and it is interpreted that the
             mineralisation targeted by the artisanal miners was transported from the area
             of the chargeability high by an old river channel underneath the laterite or
             by creep downslope.  This will be the first target tested with drill
             traverses covering both the old workings and the chargeability high.

 Target 2:   This is a northerly, offset continuation of Target 1.

 Target 3:   A plus 500m long chargeability high in the interpreted pressure shadow of a
             granitoid intrusion.  This also appears to cut across interpreted
             stratigraphy suggesting it is not simply a sulphidic stratigraphic package.
             It has low to moderate associated resistivity and conductivity.  Previous
             shallow RAB drilling has tested the northern part of the target with
             intercepts of 9m @ 0.31g/t Au from 13m and 34m @ 0.22g/t Au from the surface
             showing broad zones of low-grade mineralisation are present.  The area closer
             to the interpreted granite may be a better structural zone and this will be
             the focus of the drilling.

 Target 4:   A very similar anomaly to Target 3, this has no previous drilling but does
             have an associated soil anomaly.  A line of RAB drilling approximately 200m
             north of the target returned 2m @ 1.19g/t Au from 1m.

 Target 5:   A 2,300m long chargeability high is located along with the western contact of
             the interpreted graphitic shale package with the non-graphitic metasediments
             where the package wraps around the interpreted granitoid.  The majority of
             the graphitic shale package is not highly chargeable and hence this is
             considered unlikely to have a stratigraphic origin.  There is no previous
             drilling into this Target and it is located in an area where soils are
             considered unlikely to be effective.

 Target 7:   This is interpreted as a continuation of the K1A mineralisation, possibly
             offset, that has a higher chargeability response suggesting stronger sulphide
             alteration.  Historical drilling by previous explorers at K1A has reported
             broad mineralised intersections including:

             •       249.3m @ 0.54g/t Au from 52m (to end of hole) including 8m @
             3.17g/t Au from 107m

             •       191.8m @ 0.52g/t Au (to end of hole) including 6m @1.47g/t Au
             and 4m @ 2.47g/t Au

             •       176.4m @ 0.49g/t Au from 24m (to end of hole) including 8m @
             1.83g/t Au from 52m

             •       43m @ 0.56g/t Au from 5m and 78m @ 0.52g/t Au from 51m
             including 5m @ 2.08g/t Au from 99m

 Target 11:  This is a very discrete and very high order chargeability high and is
             considered to be a high priority target.  No previous drilling exists in this
             area.

 

The drilling successfully intersected weathered bedrock at all targets
tested.  Alteration in the form of iron oxides after sulphides (boxworks),
quartz veining and micro-veining, chlorite and muscovite has been logged in
the vicinity of the main chargeability highs.  The alteration is generally
associated with more foliated lithologies, suggesting more intense deformation
(shearing).

 

Bassala

The Bassala project is located within a highly gold endowed Birimian
volcano-sedimentary belt in southwestern Mali, approximately 200km south of
the capital city Bamako.

 

The belt hosts the Kalana (Endeavour Mining, 4Moz) and Kodieran (Wassoul'or,
2Moz) gold mines, both within a few kilometres of the Bassala project.  The
adjacent belt to the west is also well endowed with gold and hosts the Siguiri
(AngloGold Ashanti ("AngloGold"), 17Moz), Tri-K (Avocet Mining, 3Moz), Kobada
(African Gold Group, 3Moz), and Yanfolila (Hummingbird Resources, 2Moz) gold
mines.

 

In the second half of 2020, the Company recommenced exploration activity at
Bassala with the results of  gold in soil and ground magnetic surveys
announced on 26 March 2021.  These surveys confirmed that two major gold
anomalous trends are present, a 9 kilometre long north-northeast trending zone
and a second, cross-cutting, 3 kilometre northwest-trending zone. These zones
appear to be continuations of significant regional mineralisation trends.

 

Following the successful gold in soil and ground magnetic surveys, the Company
initiated an IP survey with the results announced on 10 June 2021.  The IP
survey confirmed the previous interpretations and identified:

·       Several high order chargeability highs - indicative of
disseminated sulphides at depth

·       Three of the chargeability highs can be traced over 6,000m,
4,700m and 2,200m

·       Many of the chargeability highs are associated with geochemical
anomalies and artisanal mining activity

 

Reflecting the positive results from the IP survey, the Company initiated its
maiden drilling programme at Bassala.  This was terminated in July 2021 due
to the onset of the wet season with a total of 9,997m air core (AC) drilling
completed in 164 drill holes and 392 reverse circulation (RC) drilling
completed in 4 drill holes.  That is just over half of the proposed drilling.

 

That work resulted in widespread gold mineralisation being identified in very
widely spaced drill traverses with better intercepts from the 5m composite
sampling including:

·    20m @ 2.12g/t Au from 10m incl. 10m @ 3.79g/t Au from 20m

·    10m @ 3.45g/t Au from 60m incl. 6m @ 6.59g/t Au from 60m

·    5m @ 5.10g/t Au from 15m

·    5m @ 2.75g/t Au from 55m

·    45m @ 0.57g/t Au from 25m incl. 5m @ 2.53g/t Au from 40m

·    30m @ 0.88g/t Au from 20m incl. 5m @ 3.18g/t Au from 20m

·    20m @ 0.75g/t Au from 15m incl. 5m @ 1.92g/t Au from 15m

·    10m @ 0.96g/t Au from 35m incl. 5m @ 1.44g/t Au from 35m

·    25m @ 0.51g/t Au from 15m incl. 5m @ 2.07g/t Au from 20m

·    5m @ 1.98g/t Au from 40m

·    6m @ 1.59g/t Au from 70m (end of hole)

·    5m @ 1.41g/t Au from 35m (end of hole)

 

These are considered to be excellent initial results from the broad spaced,
minimum 200m x 50m, drill pattern and it was thus decided to finish drilling
the proposed programme as well as follow up some of the previous drill
intercepts.

 

 

Contacts

 

Panthera Resources PLC

Mark Bolton (Managing
Director)
+61 411 220 942

 
contact@pantheraresources.com

 

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

John Depasquale / Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate
Finance)

 

Financial Public Relations

Vigo Consulting
Ltd
+44 (0)20 7390 0230

Oliver Clark / Chris McMahon

 

Subscribe for Regular Updates

 

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 Antony Truelove (BSc (Hon), MAusIMM, MAIG), who is a qualified
geologist and acts as the Competent Person under the AIM Rules - Note for
Mining and Oil & Gas Companies.  Antony Truelove is the COO of Panthera
Resources PLC.

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed
inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No
596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

 

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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