Panther Metals set to hit ASX with gold and nickel assets

Panther Metals is set to hit the ASX with $5 million in the tin following an IPO that will focus on a plethora of walk-up targets at its nickel and gold assets in WA and the NT that look like they are begging to be drilled. London listed parent company, Panther Metals Plc, will spin out its Australian assets into the soon to be listed Panther Metals Ltd and the latter company will now sharpen its focus on its Australian exploration projects.

The 20c IPO is expected to hit the boards at the ASX on Friday 10^th of December 2021.

All of Panther’s tenements lie within the tier 1 mining districts of Laverton in WA and the Northern Territory. Many of the prospects already have drill ready targets that boast significant historical drill results.

The company will initially focus on developing the nickel and cobalt assets at its Coglia and Red Flag projects in Western Australia.

Coglia currently has a 30-50 million tonne nickel laterite deposit grading approximately 0.7 per cent nickel and 600-800ppm cobalt. The Coglia project also has the potential for primary nickel sulphide mineralisation in the fresh rock underneath according to the company.

Panther is looking to infill drill a 4km portion of the existing 6km strike  at Coglia and undertake some QAQC work to convert the mineralisation into an inferred resource.

Work already completed at Coglia includes the amalgamation and interpretation of the entire historical drillhole database which identified two main historical exploration campaigns. According to Panther, data collected from previous exploration efforts is deemed detailed enough to allow the company to easily pull together a substantial exploration target that should readily convert into a large resource.

Panther has interpreted a 6m wide section within the laterite zone that is grading at 1.5 to 2.5 per cent nickel within the greater Coglia laterite.

The closest processing plant to Coglia is Glencore’s Murrin Murrin plant located approximately 70km to the northwest. Murrin Murrin held a reserve nickel grade in 2018 of approximately 1 per cent nickel as mill feed. With primary grades at 1 per cent at Murrin Murrin, the 1.5 to 2.5 per cent nickel grades intercepted in the higher grade laterite profile at Coglia may potentially be suitable to process as a toll treating option through the Murrin Murrin plant.

Notably, the company says the deposit also has significant sulphide potential below the laterite zone. The laterite zone is deep and extends to a depth of between 40m and 60m below surface with exact depth undulating approximately with topography. Below the laterite is an ultramafic and mafic layered complex that historically has seen only a few drill holes sunk into the fresh rock. The drill results provide an intriguing dataset that Panther says indicates the presence of a potentially economically viable sulphide phase.

The limited drill data available in the fresh rock at Coglia shows elevated platinum group element concentrations in addition to elevated copper within the ultramafic unit. Ultramafic units are generally considered to be a suitable host rock for nickel sulphide mineralisation.

Panthers other major nickel asset is the Red Flag nickel sulphide project situated in the prolific nickel and cobalt belt 25km west of Laverton. The Red Flag project lies between the historically producing 3.17 million tonne, Windarra South nickel mine that grades 1.35 per cent and the Murrin Murrin nickel and copper plant.

The northern section of the Red Flag project sits on the same trend as the Poseidon Nickel owned Woodline Well that contains 0.34 million tonnes grading 1.25 per cent nickel.

Panther plans to undertake electromagnetic surveying prior to drill testing the Red Flag area to define new targets and refine the existing targets.

The southern section of the Red Flag project area houses the Eight Foot Well prospect located just to the south of the Woodline Well nickel mine. The company says initial drill testing at Eight Foot Well has shown potential to host a shallow gold resource with notable drill intercepts including 2m grading 9.2 g/t gold, 1m going 7.02g/t gold and 4m at 4.63g/t gold.

The Merolia gold project sits to the northwest of the Coglia project and houses several gold prospects considered by the company to be some of the most underexplored ground in the region.

The Merolia project consists of the 40 mile camp gold anomaly that spans a serious 2.5km by 5km that was defined through a combination of auger drilling and airborne magnetic surveys with drilling planned for the area immediately after listing.

Another prospect within the Merolia project area is the Ironstone gold prospect that has a series of exciting historical drill results including 4m going a cracking 46.5g/t gold, 4.5m grading 5.5g/t gold and 9m at 1.2g/t gold. Importantly, the prospect is still open along strike and at depth.

The Burtville East prospect, also within the Merolia project, has a significant historical 5m drill hit going 23g/t gold in addition to a grab sample grading a solid 38.5g/t gold from surface.

Another prospect within the Merolia gold project is the Comet Well prospect that served up over 40 ounces of gold nuggets from a single exploration campaign with visible gold in multiple quartz veins.

To the west of the Merolia project is the Mikado gold project that sits 500m south of the Mikado open pit and Brightstar’s Beta Mill. Brightstar’s JORC compliant Beta resource sits at 1.9 million tonnes grading 1.7g/t gold. An initial AC program is planned to target the Mikado shear extension.

Panther also has two prospective projects in the northern territory namely the Annaburroo gold project and the Marrakai gold project.

The Annaburroo project is in the Pine Creek Orogen that is significantly underexplored with little work done since Newmont explored the area in the 1900’s. The Donkey Hill gold prospect, within the Annaburroo project, previously produced surface samples including a 61.2g/t gold grab sample and a 50.8g/t gold grab sample in addition to trench sample grades returning 5m at 6.68g/t gold.

Panther’s other Northern Territory project, Marrakai, sits to the west of Annaburroo and also remains highly unexplored according to the company. Over 500 ounces of coarse gold nuggets were found at the Steve’s Hill prospect just outside the tenement boundary and other gold deposits exist in the immediate area including the Goodall mine hosting 4.26 million tonnes at 2.36g/t gold.

Marrakai has a series of historical drill intercepts including a 2m section grading 5.74g/t gold and 2m going 2.22g/t gold.

Panther’s drilling plans start with the Coglia nickel and cobalt project with 6,000m of RC reserve definition and infill drilling followed by RC drilling at the Eight Foot Well gold prospect within the Red Flag project.

All targeted drill areas have full program or work permits approved with exceptional infrastructure and access in place.

Panther’s point of difference when compared to explorers is that it has amalgamated a large tenement package in the southeast Laverton region for the first time in many years that previously had a history of fragmented ownership.

Panther Metals will be run by experienced mining engineer, Daniel Tuffin, who has over 20 years experience in the mining industry including as the Managing Director of Auralia Mining Consulting.

Panther will come to market with a very strong intial portfolio of projcts – so strong in fact that it will need to prioritise what would normally be primary drill targets as second and third order targets.

Importantly Panther’s flagship Coglia project also hosts cobalt mineralisation. The world’s supply of cobalt is primarily from developing countries and with environmental and social sustainability front of mind these days there is an increasing demand for cobalt from tier 1 jurisdictions that can demonstrate the right environmental and social credentials.

Over the next 8 years there is a forecasted chasm between supply and demand for nickel and with global economic uncertainty the new norm, gold doesn’t look to be slipping anytime soon either.

Panther is spoilt for choice when it comes to drill targets and with $5m in the bag it wont be long before results start to roll in.

Watch this space….

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au