Panthera Resources plc share price, company news, analysis and interviews

Panthera Resources PLC (LON:PAT), the gold exploration and development company with key assets in West Africa and India, has announced its unaudited interim results for the half-year ended 30 September 2022.

Highlights

·        Total loss for the reporting period of $1,477,506 or $0.01 per share (2021: $1,943,501 loss or $0.02 per share) reflecting our ongoing commitment to our exploration activities during the period

·        Completed the agreement with Diamond Fields Resources Inc (DFR) providing up to US$18 million in exploration and development funding for the Cascades Project.

·        Moydow completed a 4975 metre RC drilling campaign at the Cascades Project which produced a significant discovery at the TT13 prospect.

·        Completion of the geophysics, together with the current geological mapping exercise at Bido identified a zone of clustered vein targets.

·        At Bassala, a 5931 metre AC drilling programme completed which defined five significant prospects – the most significant being Tabakorole, with a 2km strike length.

·        Continued to pursue the grant of the Prospecting Licence over the Bhukia project through both commercial resolution and the legal proceedings ongoing in the High Court of Rajasthan (Court). 

Mark Bolton, Managing Director of Panthera Resources, commented:

“Despite the challenging equity market conditions for gold juniors, the year to date has again been one marked by significant field activity on our extensive West African assets.   This is in part supported by the completion of the Moydow restructuring and funding agreement with DFR.

At the Cascades Project, drilling by Moydow saw a significant discovery at the TT13 prospect.  With 22 new untested drilling targets identified, the Company is confident that the existing mineral resource estimate will continue to grow with further drilling.

At Bido, an IP Geophysical Survey, geological mapping and outcrop rock sampling has identified a zone of clustered vein targets that are now ‘drill ready’.“

Events Post Balance Date

In October 2022, the Company completed an equity capital raising of £500,000.

Project Activities

Cascades (Burkina Faso)

The Cascades Project, formerly named Labola, is owned and managed by Moydow Holdings Ltd (Moydow).  Following a restructuring completed and announced on 30 June 2022, Panthera currently holds an equity interest of 20% in Moydow with DFR agreeing to spend up to US$18 million (Earn-In) on Cascades in order to maintain its ownership interest of up to 80%.

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 with Moydow exploring the area since August 2020.  Following a 2021 drilling program by Moydow, a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) was published in October 2021 as stated in Table 1:

                   Table 1 Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate, October 2021

Indicated Mineral Resource:	5.41Mt @ 1.52g/t Au (264,000oz)
Inferred Mineral Resource:	6.93Mt @ 1.67g/t Au (371,000oz)

Between May 2022 and July 2022, a 4975 metre Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling programme was completed by Moydow.  The programme incorporated infill resource definition and step-out drilling at the Daramandougou area and first-pass exploration drilling on two new previously untested targets in the newly acquired Wuo Land 2 concession (as announced by the Company on 11 March 2022), namely the TT-13 and the Big South targets. A breakdown of the drilling by area is given in Table 1.

Table 2  RC  drilling programme, May-July 2022

Target Area	No. Holes	Metres
Daramandougou	21	2,545
TT-13	9	1,068
Big South	13	1,362
TOTAL	43	4,975

The drilling at Daramandougou is not expected to add significant new resource ounces within the existing resource envelope, however, the data will help to strengthen the geological model and potentially assist in resource classification.

Two new targets in the newly acquired Wuo Land 2 licence area, TT-13 and Big South, were tested in a first-pass drilling programme.

The TT-13 structure has been mapped for a strike length of approximately 3,000 metres. It runs parallel and to the east of the Daramadougou/Wuo Ne structure.  The sampling campaign during 1Q 2022 confirmed ore-grade mineralisation in several artisanal workings with grades up to 25.4 g/t Au.  Three holes in particular intersected significant mineralisation in what appears to be a westerly dipping mineralisation envelope up to 20-35 metres wide with notable intersections listed below (“LW” is gold analysed by Leachwell method while “FA” is gold analysed by 50g fire assay):

·        CS22-RC027 45-55m, 10m@1.55 g/tLW (1.38 g/t FA)

·        CS22-RC028 25-29m, 4m@2.10 g/t LW (1.56 g/t FA)

·        CS22-RC028 38-54m, 16m@1.26g/t LW (1.2g/t FA)

·        CS22-RC029 27-36m, 9m @1.08 g/t LW (0.93 g/t FA)

·        CS22-RC029 56-66m, 10m@1.81g/t LW (1.39g/t FA)

Drilling at the Big South target tested an extensive artisanal zone.  Most of the drill holes in the northern half of the zone reported some low-grade mineralisation within an envelope consistent with the area of the artisanal workings.  The extent and intensity of the artisanal workings here, supported by mapping and sampling, point to a potentially importanta and large mineralised zone. However, this phase of drilling did not confirm any ore grade zones at the Big South target.  Follow-up geological mapping of the mineralised structure will be needed here before the next round of drilling is planned. 

Bassala Project (Mali)

The Bassala project is located within the 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 June 2022 and July 2022, the Company completed a 5931 metre drilling programme to follow up results of earlier drilling across the Bassala North, Bassala Central and Bassala South Sectors, , with main findings being:

·        Five significant prospects defined from initial and follow-up geochemical drilling campaigns

·        The most significant prospect is the Tabakorole Prospect which has a 2km strike length within which drilling has identified wide zones of mineralisation

·        The 2022 drill programme comprised  2,601m reverse circulation (RC) drilling in 23 drill holes and 3,030m air-core (AC) geochemical drilling completed in 50 drill holes

·        Significant silica-chlorite-sulphide alteration and associated quartz veining were observed for most targeted intervals

·        Drill assay results (based on 5m composite sampling) include:

5 metres at 5.60 g/t Au from 40m

5 metres at 4.68 g/t Au from 10m

5 metres at 3.73 g/t Au from 35m.

Bido (Burkina Faso)

The Bido permit in Burkina Faso is located on the Koudougou quadrangle some 125km WSW of the capital Ouagadougou. The tenement lies within the Boromo greenstone belt which also hosts the Poura gold deposit (1 to 2 Moz), situated about 50 km to the SSW of the area, as well as numerous gold occurrences.

During the half year, the Company completed an IP geophysical survey and expanded its geological mapping and outcrop rock sampling, the main points arising being:

·        The geophysical survey has identified 28 strong IP anomalies;

·        Most targets correlate with outcropping mineralised vein systems and or extensive artisanal workings;

·        Survey covered the Beredo and the Somika areas with several other mineralised domains to be tested including the Kwademen prospect;

·        Recent gold in rock sample results identified several outcropping mineralised vein systems coincident with the strong IP anomalies, , best results from grab sampling being:

–  42.2g/t Au

–  20.0g/t Au

–  13.6g/t Au

–  13.4g/t Au

–  10.9g/t Au

The completion of the geophysics, together with ongoing current geological mapping is the final step ahead of future drilling campaigns.

Bhukia Project (India)

During the period, the Company continued its efforts to secure an amicable outcome with the Government of Rajasthan (GoR). In parallel, the Company has continued to seek the enforcement of its rights through the High Court of Rajasthan. 

The Company made its initial investment in Bhukia, through its 95% owned Australian subsidiary, Indo Gold Pty Limited (IGPL), in 2005.  The Company’s rights to be granted a Prospecting Licence over Bhukia, through its joint venture partner, have been consistently frustrated over an extended period by the GoR.  More recently, the Prospecting Licence Application over Bhukia was again rejected by the GoR in August 2018 on various spurious and legally untenable grounds.  The Company subsequently obtained an interim Stay Order from the Hon’ble Rajasthan High Court which remains in place subject to ongoing proceedings there.

In 2021, the Government of India (GoI) passed a new act (MMDR2021) to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 2015 (MMDR2015).  Under Clause 13 of the MMDR2021, any pending Prespecting Licence Applications (PLA) have lapsed, therefore, potentially impacting the Company’s rights to the Bhukia and Taregaon projects.  Furthermore, under Clause 13 of the MMDR2021, the holder of a reconnaissance permit or prospecting licence whose rights lapsed shall be reimbursed the expenditure incurred towards reconnaissance or prospecting operations in such manner as may be prescribed by the GoI.  This expenditure on account of reimbursement may increase in case any foreign investor invokes Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements executed between India and other countries.

On 18 February 2021, the Company announced that it had appointed Fasken to advise the Company on a potential dispute with the Republic of India concerning the Bhukia Joint Venture Project (Bhukia).  Specifically, Fasken is advising the Company on its potential dispute under the Australia-India Bilateral Investment Treaty of 26 February 1999 (AIBIT) concerning Bhukia, which includes past, present and any future acts and/or omissions by India and its state entities and actors.  Fasken has advised that a potential claim under the AIBIT has legal merit.  The Company continues to engage with several potential litigation funders to support a potential claim under the AIBIT.

Diamond Fields Transaction

In August 2021, Panthera announced that it has entered into agreements to restructure its ownership interests in Moydow and underlying assets (together the “Transaction”).  Upon completion of the Transaction in June 2022, the Transaction resulted in:

·        US$18 million farm-out agreement on Cascades Project with DFR;

·        Spin-out of Kalaka and Nigeria projects from Moydow into a new entity (“Maniger”); and

·        Panthera secures 50% interest and operatorship of Maniger

The Transaction with DFR provides significant finance to progress the Cascades Project to the next stage, primarily the bankable feasibility study.  Panthera’s significant ongoing interest in Cascades of up to 30% ensures that the Company will benefit from any success, while not diluting shareholders’ exposure to the Company’s other assets including Bassala, Bido and India.  The ‘spin out’ of the Kalaka and Nigeria projects into Maniger preserves our interest in Kalaka independent of Cascades.

In summary, the DFR transaction secures significant multi-year financing for Cascades, ameliorates the potential concentration of risk and maximises shareholder exposure to the growth opportunity from our wider asset portfolio.

Funding

Based on current expenditure levels, all funds will be used within the next 6 months. Panthera Resources’ ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon raising additional capital.

Gold exploration and development company Panthera Resources Plc (LON:PAT), with assets in West Africa and India, has announced that it has recently completed an Induced Polarisation Geophysical Survey (“IP”) and expanded its geological mapping and outcrop rock sampling at the Bido Project in Burkina Faso.

Highlights

·    The geophysical survey has identified 28 strong IP anomalies at Bido

·    Most targets correlate with outcropping mineralised vein systems and or extensive artisanal workings

·    Survey covers the Beredo and the Somika areas with several other mineralised domains to be tested including the Kwademen prospect

·    Recent gold in rock sample results identified several outcropping mineralised vein systems coincident with the strong IP anomalies:

o  42.2g/t Au

o  20.0g/t Au

o  13.6g/t Au

o  13.4g/t Au

o  10.9g/t Au

·    Results from further rock sampling in the survey area are pending

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

“The Bido project is the next in Panthera’s pipeline after Cascades and Bassala.  Covering 100 km², it contains a considerable number of mineralised gold prospects across multiple geological domains. 

The geophysical survey has identified 28 strong anomalies to date, many of these targets are coincident with extensive artisanal works and/or gold in rock sample assays.

Following these recent, very positive results, we have expanded the geological mapping and rock sampling to cover the remaining area in the north of the survey area.

The completion of the geophysics, together with the current geological mapping exercise, represents the final stage of the present work programmes in this part of the Bido licence area, which will then allow for future drilling campaigns to be planned and proposed for budget allocations.”

Summary of the Bido Project

The Bido permit in Burkina Faso is located on the Koudougou quadrangle some 125km WSW of the capital Ouagadougou. The tenement lies within the Boromo greenstone belt which is principally composed of Paleoproterozoic Birimian terrain within the West African Man Craton, consisting of volcano-sedimentary and plutonic domains metamorphosed during the Eburnean period with even younger intrusive bodies that have been intruded into both domains.  This belt also hosts the Poura gold deposit (1 to 2 Moz), situated about 50 km to the SSW of the area, as well as numerous gold occurrences. The Perkoa VMS deposit is located about 35 km to the north of the area.

Bido Geophysical Survey

The IP survey, over an area of approximately 15km², covers the Beredo and the Somika areas.  The Company targeted this volcanic centre with its maiden geophysical survey at Bido, where previous geochemical work, including recent rock sampling, had returned very promising results.  These areas also host extensive active artisanal workings.

The survey has characterised three extensive features described in the following, in which some 47 anomalies, including 28 high-priority ones, have been identified.  The Company is currently evaluating the survey results in conjunction with its extensive geoscientific information and in particular the recent mapping and rock sampling.  Preliminary analysis indicates multiple targets where the strong/moderate IP Axes defined from interpreted resistive and conductive structures defined by the IP survey are coincident with mapped vein structures, gold in rock samples and artisanal workings.

Following the completion of the data review, the Company will prioritise the targets for future drilling.

Geophysical Survey

The Company contracted SAGAX AFRIQUE SA to conduct an IP geophysical survey over several grids located in the Bido licence area before the onset of the wet season. The work consisted of approximately 200-line km of Gradient Array (100m x 25m grids) over the Beredo and Somika areas with follow-up Pole – Dipole Array IP/Resistivity Surveys (a = 50m, n =1 to 10) as appropriate to define drill targets.

The survey has characterised three extensive chargeability features, the western corridor (Zone W), the central wide corridor (Zone C) and the eastern corridor (Zone E).  Zone E incorporates the eastern section of Beredo and the Somika grid.

Zone W comprises a pervasive north-south chargeable high (2.5-6 mV/V).  Zone C comprises many well-defined chargeability individualized axes through the centre of this corridor.  Zone E displays similar characteristics as Zone C with well-defined chargeability individualized axes, particularly in the far north, far south and east.

During 2021-22, rock sampling was carried out over outcrops of sheared country rock containing quartz veining identified by our geological mapping campaigns, often located in areas associated with shallow artisanal gold diggings. At least five localities have been sampled at strike lengths of over 500 metres, returning gold values greater than 1 ppm.

It is interpreted that the central corridor may define a shear zone trending NNE (N5^o-N10^o), within which numerous broadly similar-trending, highly chargeable structures may represent altered and sheared intermediate metavolcanic or other intrusive rock.

Similar chargeable anomalies observed on other portions of the grid have broadly comparable trends.

The resistivity survey results have been superimposed on the gold in rock sampling assays.  It is speculated that the resistive zones may represent higher quartz content associated with silica flooding of altered and structural country rock.

Pole-Dipole IP Survey Data and Results

In addition to the gradient array IP survey, the Company completed Pole-Dipole survey lines at Beredo-Kiékouyou (4 lines) and Somika (2 lines). The Pole-dipole line locations were located based on previous knowledge of the occurrence of gold in artisanal workings, known areas of mineralised veining and the results of the gradient array IP that indicated interesting zones. A Pole-dipole array is commonly used for vertical investigation.

The survey measured the resistivity and chargeability properties on the cross-section of each survey line.  The data was utilised to plot the resistivity and chargeability inversion pseudo sections, the pseudo-lithology cross-section as well as the gradient chargeability contours map around the pole-dipole surveyed lines.

The depth of investigation of these Pole-Dipole surveys (a=50M, n=1 to 10) is between 200m and 250m. The anomalies pointed out with the gradient array survey are identified in these sections. The three anomalous corridor zones (Western zone, central Zone, and Eastern zone) are also identified here.

The resistivity sections (UBC Resistivity) detail the geometry (relief) of the interface between the conductive clayey covering horizon, interpreted as saprolite, and the underlying resistive bedrock, interpreted as intrusive.  The latter is affected by many syn-geological deformations (Faults/micro-faults/shearing) reflected by local thickening of the conductive covering. These faults are represented by the conductive axes on the gradient map.

Line 20400N in the Beredo area is indicative of the pole-dipole survey in this area.  The B12-13 anomaly identified by the survey corresponds to a target where rock sampling has returned multiple gold values over 1g/t Au over 1 km strike length including:

·       6.8g/t Au

·       10.9g/t Au

·       6.2g/t Au

·       13.6g/t Au

·       13.4.9g/t Au

·       20.0g/t Au

At the Somika prospect, the pole-dipole survey below has highlighted the eastern chargeability corridor. The survey infers a felsic intrusion buried under a conductive covering and affected by geo-structural deformations.

The chargeability and the resistivity inversion sections assist in determining the dip of the rock formations, thus assisting in planning drill orientation. At Somika, we consider that the survey has identified sub-vertical structures, undercover, that are on occasion slightly easterly dipping.

Line 29900N is indicative of the pole-dipole survey at the Somika prospect where the survey has identified a strong anomaly extending at depth at S1 and S4.  As mentioned earlier there is an observed conductive covering indicated by the data interpretation and in the field that is identified as laterite and saprock to the west of this zone at the Somika Hill artisanal workings (B7/10 anomaly) intermittent sheared and veined country rock (Altered felsic?) has been exposed at several locations.

Gold exploration and development company Panthera Resources Plc (LON:PAT), with assets in West Africa and India, has announced the Labola assay results from the June 2022 drilling programme completed by Moydow.  The Project has an Indicated Mineral Resource of 264,000oz @ 1.52g/t Au and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 371,000 oz @ 1.67 g/t Au.  Going forward, the Labola project has been renamed the Cascades Gold Project. 

Highlights

·        The Cascades Gold Project comprises the contiguous Wuo Land and Wuo Land 2 licences for 243 square kilometres

·        A maiden Mineral Resource estimate was announced in 2021 on Wuo Land

·        Results from the recent drilling at the Cascades Gold Project have confirmed the presence of a significant new gold zone at the TT-13 target. Assay results include: 

CS22-RC027 45-55m, 10m@ 1.55 g/t Au

CS22-RC028 25-29m, 4m@ 2.10 g/t Au

CS22-RC028 38-54m, 16m@ 1.26g/t Au

CS22-RC029 27-36m, 9m @ 1.08 g/t Au

CS22-RC029 56-66m, 10m@ 1.81g/t Au

·        Infill drilling has added definition to the geological model with high-grade mineralisation intersecting in the Western Zone.  Assay results including 3 metres @ 12.52g/t Au

·        The geology team is continuing to upgrade more than twenty new targets for future drilling

·        Environmental baseline studies have commenced, and a new CSR program launched including the drilling of the first community water well in the Project area

·        Recent metallurgical test work confirms that the gold is free milling

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

“The discovery at TT13, just one of many untested drill targets at the Cascades Project, reinforces our confidence in being able to deliver a substantial gold resource here in due course. 

The recent exploration campaign was professionally executed with the support of the local community and without incident.”

Cascades Project Drill Program

Following a 2021 drilling program in an area of historical drilling at the Daramandougou and Wuo Ne target areas within the Wuo Land licence area, a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) was published in October 2021 as stated in Table 1:

                   Table 1 Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate, October 2021

Indicated Mineral Resource:	5.41Mt @ 1.52g/t Au (264,000oz)
Inferred Mineral Resource:	6.93Mt @ 1.67g/t Au (371,000oz)

Between May and July 2022, a 4,975 metre Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling programme was completed. The programme incorporated infill resource definition and step-out drilling at the Daramandougou area and first-pass exploration drilling on two new previously untested targets in the newly acquired Wuo Land 2 concession (as announced on 11 March 2022), namely the TT-13 and the Big South targets. A breakdown of the drilling by area is given in Table 1.

Table 2  RC  drilling programme, May-July 2022

Target Area	No. Holes	Metres
Daramandougou	21	2,545
TT-13	9	1,068
Big South	13	1,362
TOTAL	43	4,975

All holes were sampled at one-metre intervals. Initially, composite samples have been generated for laboratory analysis for two-metre downhole intervals. In well-mineralised zones, the one-metre samples were assayed.

The TT-13 target was identified in a target generation exercise carried out in 2021. Significant mineralisation was intersected in the exploration drilling at TT-13 and follow-up resource delineation drilling will be recommended here.

Drilling at the Big South target tested a new, but already extensive, artisanal mining zone.  Several of the 13 holes intersected a low-grade mineralised envelope coincident with the extent of the artisanal workings.  The anticipated higher-grade zones will geological mapping and modelling before further drilling.

Infill and step-out drilling at the Daramandougou Target

Twenty-one holes were drilled at Daramandougou for an aggregate total of 2,454 metres. For the most part, the drilling did not intersect new high-grade zones and the drilling is not expected to add significant new resource ounces within the existing resource envelope. However, the data will help to strengthen our geological model here, and this will be important for resource classification. By way of example, hole CS22-RC003 tested a gap in drilling at the southern end of the Western Zone at Daramandougou more than 100 m in length, between hole DRA21-014 drilled by Moydow in 2021 and LBLC08-006 drilled by High River Gold in 2008. Intersections in CS22-RC003 included the following:

·    CS22-RC003 40-60m, 20 metres @ 1.27g/t and

·    CS22-RC003 64-68m, 4 metres @ 2.1g/t and

·    CS22-RC003 94-96m, 2 metres @ 3.8g/t and

·    CS22-RC003 102-114m, 12 metres @ 3.38g/t

The highest-grade mineralisation in these intersections was 104-107m, 3 metres @ 12.52g/t Au (from fire assays), which occurs in a zone of quartz veining where the host metasediment unit transitions from sandstone to greywacke dominated lithology. DRA21-014 was collared 60 metres to the north and had previously intersected a maximum grade of 2.18g/t (60-61 metres downhole). LBLC08-006 was collared 55 metres to the south and intersected the highest grade of 1.35g/t. Preliminary modelling of the new results suggests likely continuity with the mineralised zone intersected in DRA-21-014 therefore a significant southerly continuation of the western zone at improved grades.

Other potentially significant intersections from the drilling at Daramandougou include:

·    CS22-RC002 3-13m, 10 metres @ 0.94 g/t Au

·    CS22-RC004 36-54m, 18 metres @ 1.36g/t

·    CS22-RC006 32-46m, 13 metres @ 1.31g/t

·    CS22-RC007 75-88m, 13 metres @ 0.73g/t

·    CS22-RC010 67-71m, 4 metres @ 1.53g/t

·    CS22-RC013 32-53m, 21 metres @ 0.63g/t

·    CS22-RC018 34-36m, 2 metres @ 3.03g/t

·    CS22-RC021 20-29m, 9 metres @ 0.64g/t

Exploration drilling

Two new targets in the newly acquired Wuo Land 2 licence area, TT-13 and Big South, were tested in a first pass drilling programme with an aggregate of 22 holes. Target generation work during 2021 defined 22 exploration targets across the Wuo Land and Wuo Land 2 concessions. Most of these targets, including TT-13 and Big South, have had no previous drilling.

The TT-13 target is 6km south-southeast and 8km south-southeast of the Wuo Ne and Daramandougou zone where the bulk of mineral resources was delineated in December 2021.  At TT-13 a total of 9 holes tested a northeast-southwest trending shear structure where a 2022 field mapping programme had delineated a structure over a strike length exceeding 1.8 kilometres. The zone is characterised by near continuous artisanal workings at the surface. The TT-13 structure has been mapped for a strike length of approximately 3,000 metres. It runs parallel and to the east of the Daramadougou/Wuo Ne structure.  The sampling campaign during quarter 1 of this year confirmed ore-grade mineralisation in several artisanal workings with grades up to 25.4 g/t Au.

Three holes in particular intersected significant mineralisation in what appears to be a westerly dipping mineralisation envelope up to 20-35 metres wide. Notable intersections are listed below. The samples were initially assayed by Fire Assay (FA) and selected mineralised sections were also assayed using bottle roll LeachWELL (LW) analyses.  Both the Fire Assay and Bottle Roll assays are quoted here, and it is noted that for each mineralised intercept the Bottle Roll assays returned a higher average grade than the Fire Assays.

·    CS22-RC027 45-55m, 10m@1.55 g/t LW (1.38 g/t FA)

·    CS22-RC028 25-29m, 4m@2.10 g/t LW (1.56 g/t FA)

·    CS22-RC028 38-54m, 16m@1.26g/t LW (1.2g/t FA)

·    CS22-RC029 27-36m, 9m @1.08 g/t LW (0.93 g/t FA)

·    CS22-RC029 56-66m, 10m@1.81g/t LW (1.39g/t FA)

Drilling at the Big South target tested a new, but already very extensive, artisanal mining zone.  The structure crosses the southern boundary of the Wuo Land licence and into the Wuo Land 2 licence area and may be an offset southerly continuation of the TT-13 structure. As with TT-13, a short mapping and sampling programme in 2022 confirmed high-grade mineralisation in zones characterised by quartz veining with associated pyrite. 13 holes tested a 3km strike length of this shear structure at wide spacing. Thus far, only two-metre composited samples have been assayed. Most of the holes in the northern half of the zone intersected some low-grade mineralisation within an envelope consistent with the area of the artisanal workings. The primary one-metre samples from the mineralised envelope will be sent for LW analysis during September.

While the extent and intensity of the artisanal workings here, supported by mapping and sampling, point to a potentially important large, mineralised zone at Big South, geological field mapping of the mineralised structure will be needed here before the next round of drilling is planned. 

Drill Sample Procedures and Reporting

All drilling samples have been collected at one-metre intervals with some samples composited for assay, using a variety of assay techniques.  Where results from more than one assay technique are available the quoted intervals are annotated with FA or LW indicating fire assay or LW respectively.  When calculating drill hole intercepts, a cut-off of 0.3g/t has been used and an internal dilution of up to 3 metres is allowed.

Fire Assay analyses were carried out at SGS Burkina SA Laboratory, Ouagadougou. LW analyses was carried out at Biggs Global Burkina Sarl, Ouagadougou

Metallurgy

As part of the QA/QC programme from the drilling and sampling, 499 one-metre samples were re-assayed using the LW accelerated bottle roll technique.  Additional fire assays were performed on each of the LW tails. 

The average recovery of the bottle roll as a fraction of the bottle roll and tail fire assay for the 499 samples was 86.8%.  Furthermore, when applying a cut-off grade of 0.3 g/t Au, the average recovery was 89.5% for 183 samples. These results reaffirm that the material is free milling.

Environmental Baseline Studies.

Moydow has commenced the process of acquiring new environmental data for the project area in combination with the collation of all available historical data. An Ouagadougou-based environmental consultancy group has been engaged to assist with the scoping of a baseline monitoring programme.

CSR

Moydow enjoys good relations with the local communities and stakeholders in the Cascades Project area. The policy is to use local service providers and exploration personnel wherever possible, supported by experienced exploration personnel from outside the community who can lead and train local people as necessary.  The drilling programme was completed without any lost time injuries and no drilling downtime.  

Gold exploration and development company Panthera Resources Plc (LON:PAT), with assets in West Africa and India, has announced an update on its West African exploration activities.

We refer to the recent announcements for the completion of drilling at the Bassala Project and the IP Commencement at the Bido Project on 8 July 2022 and 4 July 2022 respectively.

The Company anticipates receiving the Bassala drilling assays and the Bido IP survey on or about the end of August 2022.

Furthermore, Panthera Resources advises that the drilling programme at the Labola Project has been completed with the first assays expected in September 2022.  Further details on the Labola drilling programme were announced on 26 May 2022.

Panthera Resources Plc (LON:PAT), the Gold exploration and development company with assets in West Africa and India, has announced the drilling programme, as announced on 6th June 2022 at the Bassala Project in Mali has now ended with all samples delivered to the assay laboratory.

Highlights

·       The drill programme follows highly encouraging results from the drilling programmes reported in 2021 and early 2022

·       2,601m reverse circulation (RC) drilling completed in 23 drill holes

·       3,030m air-core (AC) drilling completed in 50 drill holes

·       Significant silica-chlorite-sulphide alteration and associated quartz veining were observed for most targeted intervals

·       The samples have been submitted to the SGS laboratory in Bamako with results expected during July 2022

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

“The continued and rapid progress at Bassala is a credit to our operations team in Mali.  The project has been accelerated from a grassroots prospect through a gold in soil and geophysics survey, and two drilling programmes in 2021 for 18935 metres.  The June 2022 AC drilling programme, comprising 5631 metres, was again completed on time and within budget with no safety incidents reported.

The Basala project has a large number of mineralised targets with three areas prioritised for follow-up AC/RC drilling in this programme.  Logging of drill cuttings has observed strong quartz veining and alteration (sulphide or limonite after sulphide, chlorite and silica).  We look forward to the assay results expected later in the quarter.”

June 2022 Drill Programme

The June 2022 drill programme was designed to follow up results of the earlier drilling in the three separate prospect areas in the Bassala project, these being named ‘Bassala North’, ‘Bassala Central ‘and ‘Bassala South’. Panthera is pleased to report the current program was completed ahead of schedule, on budget and without any safety incidents.

Bassala South Prospect

In the Bassala South prospect at least two subparallel zones trending NNW – SSE have been highlighted with:

·        artisanal workings

·        gold in soil anomalies

·        structures identified from the geophysical survey; and

·        significant gold anomalism in the 2021 air core drilling programme.

These structures or targets have now been drill tested with deeper RC drilling and further AC geochemical testing and downhole logging suggest zones of quartz veining may represent depth extensions of mineralisation seen in surface geochemistry and the shallower air core drilling.

Bassala Central Prospect

Exploration in the Bassala Central prospect is targeting the deeper structures identified in earlier work and highlighted by several artisanal zones of workings that are also located on the north-south structures as interpreted from the gradient array IP survey.

Bassala North Prospect

In the Bassala North prospect, several RC holes were drilled to test the southern strike of areas of artisanal workings while AC drilling followed up on the 2021 drilling anomalies, geophysical structure, and artisanal digging targets.

In total, 3,030m of air-core (AC) drilling was completed in 50 drill holes and 2,601m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling was completed in 23 drill holes.

The current programme has successfully identified that sub-vertical quartz veining occurs and subject to positive analytical results will be the basis for target planning in the next phase of targeted exploration.

Logging of drill cuttings has supported our targeting rationale for this phase of drilling with strong quartz veining and alteration (sulphide or limonite after sulphide, chlorite and silica) observed at the targets tested.  Sulphides are generally represented by boxwork textures or limonite replacing sulphides, but occasionally fresh pyrite and/or arsenopyrite have been logged.

A total of 1,350 composite samples have been collected from the air-core and RC drilling (including standards, duplicates and blanks) have been despatched to SGS Laboratory in Bamako and are currently being assayed for gold via low-level detection (1ppb Au) fire assay.  It is planned to re-assay gold mineralised intersections at 1 metre intervals.

It is expected that the assay results will be received during 3Q 2022.

Project Overview

The Bassala project is located within the 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 – most probably indicative of disseminated sulphides at depth

·       Three of the chargeability highs can be traced over strike lengths of 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 accelerated its drilling programme at Bassala, with an AC drilling program in 2021.

Historical Drilling

Whilst the licence hosts prolific artisanal mining activity, the only significant previous systematic exploration was undertaken by AngloGold Exploration (AngloGold) during the period 2010-2011.  That work consisted of broad spaced soil sampling at 800m x 100m spacing with limited infill to 400m x 50m and 200m x 50m spacing in selected areas.

AngloGold subsequently undertook broad-spaced RAB drilling over the main soil anomalies and a total of 3,111m was completed in 113 drill holes at an average depth of 27.5m.  The drilling identified significant mineralisation beneath the laterite cover, including:

·    21m @ 1.15g/t Au from 15m including 3m @ 4.52g/t Au from 33m

·    15m @ 0.56g/t Au from 3m to the end of the hole

·    3m @ 0.78g/t Au from 21m to the end of the hole

·    6m @ 0.49g/t Au from 39m to the end of the hole

·    3m @ 1.55g/t Au from 9m

·    3m @ 1.16g/t Au from surface

June 2021 Drilling (Panthera)

Reflecting the positive results from the IP survey (announced on 10 June 2021), 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 392m reverse circulation (RC) drilling completed in 4 drill holes.

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 were excellent initial results from the broad-spaced, drill pattern that only penetrated to the base of

weathering. Further details of this drilling may be found in the RNS’ dated 24 August 2021, 10 September 2021 and 30 September 2021.

December 2021 Drilling (Panthera)

Given the excellent results from the June 2021 drilling programme, the Company continued the drilling programme after the wet season and the phase 2 programme (mainly situated in the northern part of the license area), consisting of 8,546m drilling in 152 AC drill holes, was completed in late 2021.  Further details of this drilling may be found in the RNS’ dated 9 December 2021, 14 January 2022 and 17 February 2022.

Assay results from this drilling included the following intercepts:

·    25m @ 0.87g/t Au from surface incl. 5m @ 2.96g/t Au from 10m

·    30m @ 0.25g/t Au from 15m incl. 10m @ 0.50g/t Au from 20m

·    2m @ >8.00g/t Au from 55m at end of hole (re-assays at 3.01, 8.40 and 1.06g/t Au)

·    5m @ 1.10g/t Au from 5m

·    15m @ 0.40g/t Au from 10m incl. 5m @ 0.77g/t Au

·    5m @ 0.89g/t Au from 30m

·    16m @ 0.90g/t Au from 40m at end of hole incl. 5m @ 2.58g/t Au from 40m

·    55m @ 0.29g/t Au from 5m at end of hole incl. 5m @ 1.05g/t Au from 30m

·    5m @ 2.45g/t Au from 5m

·    1m @ 0.42g/t Au from 50m at end of hole

·    5m @ 0.92g/t Au from 55m at end of hole

·    3m @ 0.68g/t Au from 15m at end of hole

·    5m @ 0.44g/t Au from 55m at end of hole

·    5m @ 1.19g/t Au from 35m

Panthera Resources Plc (LON:PAT), with assets in West Africa and India, is pleased to announce that it has commenced an Induced Polarisation Survey at the Bido Project in Burkina Faso.

Highlights

·    IP survey has commenced, to cover the higher priority targets which are accessible before the onset of the wet season in 3Q 2022

·    Bido Project comprises multiple gold prospects over the licence area, including extensive recent and historical artisanal workings, and targets identified by the previous drilling

·    The survey will build on Panthera’s understanding of the geological and geochemical framework of the entire area and is aimed  to prioritise drilling activity planned for later in 2022

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

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

Technical Details of the Geophysical Survey

The Company has contracted SAGAX AFRIQUE SA to conduct a Gradient Array IP survey over several grids located in the Bido licence area. The survey has now commenced, and this first phase of the programme will be completed before the onset of the wet season. The Company considers the geophysical technique will better define targets for drilling to be commenced after the wet period when combined with its geochemical and geological understanding of the area. will. The work will consist of approximately 200 line km of Gradient Array (100m x 25m grids) over the Beredo and Somika areas with follow-up Pole – Dipole Array IP/Resistivity Surveys (a = 50m, n =1 to 10) as appropriate to define drill targets.

Summary of the Bido Project

The Bido permit in Burkina Faso is located on the Koudougou quadrangle some 125km WSW of the capital Ouagadougou. The tenement lies within the Boromo greenstone belt which is principally composed of Paleoproterozoic Birimian terrain within the West African Man Craton, consisting of volcano-sedimentary and plutonic domains metamorphosed during the Eburnean period with even younger intrusive bodies that have been intruded into both of these domains.  This belt also hosts the Poura gold deposit (1 to 2 Moz), situated about 50 km to the SSW of the area, as well as numerous gold occurrences.  The Perkoa VMS deposit is located about 35 km to the north of the area.

The penetrative structural fabric throughout is NE to NNE, with several phases of quartz veining evident, some predominantly following this dominant fabric of the greenstone belt lithologies while others are cross-cutting.

Recent Panthera Activities

In 2020-21, a soil survey was completed with 1,166 soil samples collected on lines 200m part with samples collected every 50m along lines, together with assays (refer RNS dated 9 February 2021).  Several high-grade gold in soil assays were received including some individual, point samples:

–   26,500ppb Au (26.5g/t Au)

–   16,700ppb Au (16.7g/t Au)

–   4,150ppb Au (4.15g/t Au)

–   3,720ppb Au (3.72g/t Au)

–   3,060ppb Au (3.06g/t Au)

–   2,100ppb Au (2.1g/t Au)

These indicated a northwest trending zone approximately 2,500m long greater than 32ppb Au with a 1,600m core area greater than 64ppb Au.

More recently, approximately 322 rock chip samples were collected from the Beredo and Tiekouyou prospects pursuant to a geological mapping programme.  The survey identified several outcropping mineralised vein systems with 101 samples reporting >0.5g/t with better assays including:

–   42.2g/t Au

–   20.0g/t Au

–   13.6g/t Au

–   13.4g/t Au

–   10.9g/t Au

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

“The Bido project has existed in the shadow of Labola and Bassala for some time.  It is the next step in the Company’s value creation chain as we advance our portfolio of opportunities in West Africa.

Bido is a large licence with a plethora of mineralised targets that require prioritisation ahead of drilling.  The IP programme, which is expected to be completed in coming weeks, is the final step ahead of planned drilling later in 2022.”

Panthera Resources Plc (LON:PAT), the diversified gold exploration and development company with assets in West Africa and India, has announced that the restructure of Moydow Holdings Limited has been completed. 

On 25 August 2021, the Company announced that it had entered into definitive agreements to restructure its ownership interests in Moydow and its underlying assets.  Importantly, the restructure will see Diamond Fields Resources Inc provide funding to the Labola Project of up to US$18 million.

Highlights

·        US$18 million farm-out agreement secured on Labola Project with DFR

·        Spin-out of Kalaka and Nigeria projects from Moydow into a new entity (“Maniger”)

·        Panthera secures 50% interest and operatorship of Maniger

·        Drilling at Labola currently remains ongoing with 2051 metres drilled and assay results anticipated in Q3 2022

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

www.pantheraresources.com/news/regulatory-news/

Summary of the Restructure

The Labola project is owned and managed by Moydow.  Panthera held an equity interest of approximately 40% in Moydow.  A restructure of Moydow and farm-in by DFR agreement was announced on 25 August 2021 with these agreements now completed.  Following completion of the restructure:

·        DFR has agreed to spend up to US$18 million (Earn-In) on Labola and increase its ownership interest up to 80%;

·        upon completion of the Earn-In, Panthera holds the right to increase its interest by 10%, for example, from 20% to 30%, for a cash cost of US$7.2 million;

·        The Kalaka and Nigerian projects have been spun out of Moydow into a new company, Maniger Limited, which is now 50% jointly owned by Panthera and DFR.

·        DFR will be the operator of Moydow and Panthera will be the operator of Maniger.

Further information on the restructure is outlined in Panthera’s announcement made on 25 August 2021.

About Labola

The Labola gold exploration project is in the Banfora greenstone belt of the West African Birimian Supergroup in southwest Burkina Faso. Labola 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 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 resources estimate in 2021.

Gold mineralisation at Labola is related to quartz veining, areas of silica alteration and disseminated pyrite. A previous ground IP survey highlighted the coincidence between mineralised zones and high chargeability (sulfides) and resistivity (quartz veining and silicification) anomalies. This correlation outlines many additional opportunities for resource expansion drilling in the future.

The main targets are along the major interpreted central shear system encompassing the three mineralised zones. There is also strong evidence that there are several sub-parallel, additional structures that also host significant gold mineralisation as shown by artisanal workings. These targets can be considered as clearly defined for drill testing. Many of the targets are resource expansion opportunities as they are obvious extensions to identified resources and include areas with only widely spaced historical drilling. Additional targets include untested zones with artisanal workings and new zones as defined by soil geochemistry and/or Induced Polarisation surveys. Labola, therefore, represents an advanced exploration project with clearly defined drill targets that provide opportunities for exploration and resource expansion.

In March 2022, the Company announced that Moydow secured an interest in the Wuo Land 2 licence, substantially expanding the strategic land position. Since the acquisition of Wuo Land 2, several new targets, both along strike and parallel have been identified by Moydow.

Current Drilling Programme

The drill programme has been designed to support an expansion of the National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) resource estimate announced on 25 October 2021 and 6 December 2021.  The drilling will also test several peripheral targets which could demonstrate the larger-scale potential of the Labola Project. 

The Labola project comprises the two exploration licence areas, Wuo Land and Wuo Land 2.  The 2021 drilling programme of 4739 metres was completed between May and August on the Wuo Land licence.  The primary objective of the 2021 programme was to validate the historical High River Gold and Taurus drilling databases to estimate a maiden mineral resource estimate under NI 43-101 of:

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

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

The 2021 programme focused on the main area of historical drilling and in particular the Daramandougou and Wuo Ne target areas.  Furthermore, the interest in Wuo Land 2 licence was secured in March 2022, following the completion of the 2021 drilling programme. 

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

“The Moydow restructure and US$18 million earn-in by DFR on Labola has proven fortuitous given the current investment market conditions.  The arrangement with DFR provides funding support, which is non-dilutive to Panthera shareholders, to build on the Labola maiden resource announced in late 2021.

The expanded ground position together with the ongoing exploration activities in 2022 has only strengthened our view as to the overall prospectivity of Labola.  We look forward to the initial assay results from the ongoing Labola drilling program, expected in the third quarter of 2022.”

Panthera Resources Plc (LON:PAT), the diversified gold exploration and development company with assets in West Africa and India, has announced the Reverse Circulation/Air Core (RC/AC) drilling programme at the Bassala Project in Mali has commenced.  

Highlights

·       5000 metre RC/AC drill programme has commenced at the Bassala Project

·       The programme comprises 57 AC holes and 21 RC holes

·       Drilling will test Bassala North, Central and South prospects

·       The drill programme follows highly encouraging results from the two AC programmes in 2021

·       Assay results are expected during quarter three of 2022

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

pantheraresources.com/news/regulatory-news/

About Bassala

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 Birmian belt hosts the Kalana (Endeavour Mining, 4Moz) and Kodieran (Wassoul’or, 2Moz) gold mines, both within a few kilometres (<10km) of the Bassala project

Basement rocks across the Bassala property comprise predominantly Birimian metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks – these greenstone formations are the host for almost all known orogenic gold deposits in southern Mali. The Company completed some 9997 metre AC drilling programme in July 2021 which confirmed significant mineralisation in the licence. A follow-up 8546 metre AC drilling programme in December 2021 confirmed further mineralised zones in the north of the licence. Deeper RC drilling in priority areas is now underway.

Several coherent zones of mineralisation are beginning to emerge, generally trending NNE in the north, N-S in the centre and NW in the south. These zones are between about 600m and 3000m in strike and hence have significant size potential.

Recent exploration activity by the Company includes:

1Q 2021	Gold in soil survey
1Q 2021	Ground Magnetic survey
2Q 2021	IP survey
3Q 2021	10389m drilling programme (13 targets)
4Q 2021	8546m drilling programme completed (8 targets)
2Q 2022	AC/RC drilling programme commenced

Work Programme

The Company has defined three separate prospect areas in the Bassala project, these being named ‘Bassala North’, ‘Bassala Central ‘and ‘Bassala South’.

In the Bassala South prospect at least two subparallel zones trending NNW – SSE has been highlighted with:

·        Artisanal workings

·        Gold in soil anomalies

·        Structures identified from the geophysical survey

·        Significant gold anomalism in the 2021 air core drilling programme

These structures or targets will be drill tested with deeper RC drilling and further AC geochemical testing.

In the Bassala North prospect, several RC holes are planned to test the southern strike of areas of artisanal workings while AC drilling is planned to follow up on the 2021 drilling anomalies, geophysical structure, and artisanal digging targets.

Exploration in the Bassala Central prospect is targeting the deeper structures identified in earlier work and highlighted by several artisanal zones of workings that are also located on the north-south structures as interpreted from the gradient array IP survey.