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.

9 July 2024

Panthera Resources Plc

("Panthera" or "the Company")

Kalaka Drilling Commences

Gold exploration and development company Panthera Resources Plc (AIM:PAT), with gold assets in West Africa and India, is pleased to advise that the Company has commenced a diamond drilling programme on the Kalaka Project in Mali (Drilling Programme).

Highlights

·        Twin the historical drill holes K1AD001 and K1RC003 to verify the historical drill results and provide material for further metallurgical test work

·        K1AD001 reported 246.27m @ 0.55 g/t Au (inc 56m @1.02 g/t Au)

·        RC hole K1RC003 reported 161m @0.39 g/t Au and terminated in the mineralisation

·        Support ongoing next steps to define a maiden JORC compliant mineral resource estimation at the K1A prospect

Mark Bolton, Managing Director of Panthera, commented:

"The Kalaka Project in Mali has large scale, low-grade gold mineralisation potential. Historical drilling consistently reported significant gold intercepts including diamond hole K1AD002 (191.8m @ 0.52 g/t Au) and RC drill hole K1ARC028 (117m @ 0.59 g/t Au including 41m @ 1.02 g/t Au) at the K1A prospect. 

The Company continues to advance its discussions regarding the potential restructuring of its interest in its West African gold assets.  If successful, it is anticipated that this will not only provide a path for the Company to realise significant value from its West African gold portfolio, but also provide funding for both the current Drilling Programme and advancing these assets going forward."

About the Kalaka Project

The Kalaka gold project, which is operated by Panthera, is situated in southern Mali (Figure 1), 80km south of the 8 Moz Morila gold mine and 85km northwest of the 6 Moz Syama gold mine (Resolute). Panthera believes that the property has large scale potential.

Historical drilling has intersected impressive mineralization widths at the K1A target within a very large 0.5g/t Au mineralization envelope.  Drilling intersections at K1A have included 249m @ 0.54g/t Au (to end of hole). The tenement hosts some 45km of prospective geology and structures along strike from K1A as defined from drilling, surface geochemical and geophysical surveys.

At the K1A target area, the Company's Competent Person Report (prepared by Golder Associates Pty Ltd), which was disclosed in the Company's AIM Admission Document, reported that drilling by past explorers defined a potential endowment of 250,000 to 500,000 ounces. Furthermore, Golder Associates Pty Ltd ("Golder") reported that this represents an exploration target where further infill drilling may lead to the estimation of a Mineral Resource.

More recently, follow-up work by Panthera including re-examination of all available drill data at K1A, identified a mineralised envelope that broadly conforms to the potential endowment mentioned by Golder. This work identifies an exploration target of between 0.5 Moz to 1 Moz gold.  Importantly, the Company is yet to drill the northern extension of the mineralisation at K1A together with several similar targets within the project area. Taken together this would potentially expand the exploration target to approximately 3 Moz of gold.

Figure 1: West African Projects Location Plan

Current Drilling Programme

The current drilling programme comprises:

·        drilling two diamond core holes for 640m as detailed on Figure 2;

·        holes will be surveyed and orientated to facilitate measurements of structures, veining and geological contacts;

·        holes will be drilled to identify the east and west margins of the ore body, as stylized on the diagram (Figure 2); and

·        it is also planned to undertake additional metallurgical testing of the drill core to advance our understanding of gold recoveries properties as follow up to the positive bottle roll tests previously completed (RNS announcement released by the Company on 13 June 2024).

Fig 2: Proposed Diamond Drilling at the K1A Prospect, Kalaka

Contacts

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Qualified Persons

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.

Glossary 

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.

**ENDS**