MINING AIM: THE PANTHER METALS EDIT

There are a few things about Ontario to be aware of: but most important is that despite some regulatory difficulties on occasion, the Fraser Institute now ranks the region in the top 10 globally (this year, fellow Canadian province Saskatchewan — the premier uranium address — came first place). 

2024 is the first year Ontario has managed to crack the top 10.

It’s hardly surprising when you consider the pedigree operating in the area: Barrick, Newmont, Agnico Eagle, Evolution…all the big guns have operating mines. And they’re growing. Agnico Eagle is expanding its Detour Lake mine and has consolidated its position in the Abitibi region by acquiring the remaining half of the Canadian Malartic mine. McEwen Mining's is expanding the Black Fox gold mine and Alamos Gold is midway through its phase 3+ expansion at the Island Gold mine​.

Newmont is redeveloping the old Porcupine mine; Argonaut Gold has started production at Magino and this will be the largest and lowest cost mine in its portfolio. Then there’s Evolution Mining, which acquired the Red Lake Complex from Newmont in 2020 and plans to ramp up production to restore it as a top Canadian gold mine. Barrick and Teck are also both highly active in the region — the former’s Hemlo mine is perhaps the *gold* standard. 

Cough cough.

There are tons more examples — but you get the general idea. There was some $15.7 billion of mineral production in the province last year, with a high profile takeover of Great Bear Resources for $1.8 billion. With new discoveries constantly on the horizon, it’s also worth highlighting the $240 million streaming deal struck between Wheaton and Generation Mining for the Marathon project.

There is a huge resurgence of investment into the province — and yes, some of it is to do with the gold price, which appears to only be going one way, especially with US rate cuts likely to start in September.

But it’s also the wider investing and political environment. Take the ‘Building More Mines’ Act — which basically streamlines the process for opening new mines, part of Ontario's broader strategy to boost exploration and development, especially in the critical minerals sector. Or the additional $15 million over three years for the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund, enhancing research, development, and commercialisation of new mining technologies.

And then there’s the grant funding — including the Ontario Junior Exploration Programme (OJEP) funding, which Panther neighbour (and presumably good pals) First Class Metals has benefitted from. On that note, Darren, send some applications in maybe?

Of course, as with all jurisdictions there are drawbacks in addition to the advantages. 

Costs are high, labour shortages are becoming problematic, and sustainable development is high on the agenda (though Fulcrum are working on this). By sustainable development, I mean that it is becoming harder to jump through the regulatory hoops necessary to open a new mine — including ensuring that long-term environmental damage like tailings and water contamination is dealt with for the longer 

term.

Let’s consider the etymology of ‘Ontario.’ It’s commonly thought to derive from the local First Nation dialect of either Huron (meaning great lake) or Iroquoian (meaning beautiful water). Ontario boasts some 250,000 freshwater lakes — and First Nation peoples rightfully have significant control over mining exploration and approval. 

It’s worth noting that Panther has decent relations with the locals, and if you don’t, you will run into problems. Grassy Narrows First Nation Chief Rudy Turtle recently launched a constitutional challenge in areas unrelated to PALM, arguing that:

‘My people have suffered far too much from industry that has been forced on our land with devastating impacts to our health and way of life. Rather than listen to us, Ontario has granted thousands of mining claims on our land behind our backs. We only find out after the claims have been granted and after Ontario has given strangers a green light to carve up the land that we cherish and rely on. This old law is outdated, unconstitutional and offensive.’

Keeping your First Nation onside is mission critical.

Okay, you’ve enjoyed the starter. Get ready for the main course:

• Obonga.
• Manitou Lakes.
• Dotted Lake.

Of these assets, 292 square kilometre Obonga is by far the most critical and is the company’s very clear flagship. 

World-renowned VMS system expect Jim Franklin has previously argued that Obonga is the sister greenstone belt to the Sturgeon Lake greenstone belt which contains five past commercially producing mines, and where Glencore had a team working during 2023.

The asset is prospective for…pretty much everything. Copper, Zinc, Lead, Nickel, Gold, Silver and PGMs — but with lithium and graphite potential. Immediate neighbours include Glencore’s Mattabi Mine and Sturgeon Lake VMS Camp to the west, and Impala Canada’s Lac des Iles Mine to the south.

Obonga has already seen significant investment into the ground; including the discovery of a VMS system — and the Wishbone discovery, characterised by drill hole intercepts including 27.3m of massive sulphide and 51m of sulphide-dominated mineralisation.

2022 drilling saw intersections including 3.6m @ 3.9% Zn, including 2m @ 6.8% Zn & 4.3 g/t Ag, indicating proximity to metal-fertile fluid flow — this is important, because VMS bodies tend to occur in clusters — meaning asset extension is plausible.

The Survey and Awkward targets have also seen preliminary drilling, confirming VMS style mineralisation at Survey with a 29m wide intercept of cyclical semi-massive and disseminated sulphide.

The dream is that Obonga could be Canada’s new VMS camp. The asset is also strategically positioned — close to national railroad transport links and the industrial port city of Thunder Bay. And its just 75km east of the former Mattabi/Sturgeon Lake Mining Camp on the Wabigoon Greenstone Belt.

And in late December 2023, Panther signed a purchase option agreement over 35 single cell mining claims covering a total area of 7.25 square kilometres to enlarge the Awkward Prospect area eastwards. 

Panther’s review of historical reports for this ‘Awkward East’ area has shown that a single 55m long diamond hole drilled by Cantri Mines back in June 1966 intersected three graphitic 'flow' zones interbedded with rhyolite on the western end of this new claim block. 

Whilst this drill hole was only a single isolated hole, it’s located on the eastern end of a 6.5km long conductive lineament — based on the Garden-Obonga Airborne Geophysical Survey flown by the Ontario Government back in 1999. 

Hazelwood has done his homework.

This ‘Cantri Trend’ runs to 2km to the north and is parallel to Panther's Trend 3 — and both can in part be attributed to graphite. The initial geological interpretation has established a preliminary graphite target area in the region of 21.5 square kilometres across the original Awkward and Awkward East prospect areas combined.

In addition to the graphite potential, Awkward remains an anomalous magnetic target, interpreted to be a layered mafic intrusion and magmatic conduit based on mapped geology and airborne geophysics. 

Historic sampling in the area returned anomalous platinum and palladium, while historic drilling on the periphery of the target intersected non-assayed massive sulphide and copper, non-assayed disseminated pyrite and chalcopyrite in coarse gabbro, and non-assayed 'marble cake' gabbro.

Interestingly, this is all geologically similar to the Lac des Iles Mine varitexture gabbro ore zone.

In mid-January 2024, investors were treated to a graphite-sized update — additional sample submissions, targeting crystalline graphite of drill hole BBR22_AW-P1-1. This hole was drilled to test a geophysical modelled conductive target at the western end of a 730m long conductive lineament 'Trend 3' back in 2022.

Results extended the downhole intersection of graphitic carbon to 27.2m @ 2.25 % TGC between 12m to 43.3m downhole. Additional geophysical plate modelling also had the prospect of extending Trend 3 a further 4.1km eastwards.

Factoring the additional claim package recently acquired by Panther, it all suggests a preliminary graphite target area in the region of 21.5 km2 across the Awkward and Awkward East prospect areas. 

Already by this point, Hazelwood was noting the ‘potential scale’ of the asset.

For context, in Q4 2022 Panther undertook a nine-hole 1,500m diamond drilling programme over the Wishbone, Survey and Awkward Prospect areas. 

The Awkward drilling comprised three holes (totalling 243 metres) designed to test the first 3 of 20 conductive plate targets identified by Maxwell Plate Modelling of electromagnetic geophysical data. The 20 conductive plates outline four distinct conductive lineations or 'Trends' which are interpreted to relate to sulphide bearing 

magmatic conduits and graphite.

The most southerly of these conductive lineations, Trend 3, was intersected by this 91 metre diamond drill hole BBR22_AW-P1-1 — intersecting 35.1m of graphitic metasediment from 8.4m downhole near the western end of Trend 3.

As a precursor to complete hole sampling, a small 2.65m assayed interval from the 35.1m wide graphitic zone was submitted to ALS Laboratories for Total Graphitic Carbon analysis to confirm the presence of crystalline 'flake' graphite; this assayed interval totalled 2.65 m @ 4.02% TGC from 21m, including 1m @ 5.12% TGC from 21m.

As the graphite mineralisation was open above and below the sampled interval, follow-up sampling was conducted, extending the total downhole intersection of graphitic carbon to 27.2m @ 2.25 % TGC between 12m to 43.3m downhole.

That’s not too shabby.

Based on plate modelling, Trend 3 is currently circa 730m long but remains open to the east. When you add in the EM data, there is the prospect that this additional plate modelling eastwards of Trend 3 could extend the lineation by some 4.1km, which would significantly enlarge the potential size of a graphite target.

On 1 February 2024, Panther then submitted an Exploration Permit Application for additional drilling following the discovery of volcanogenic massive sulphide — VMS — base metal mineralisation on the Wishbone Prospect at Obonga.

This application covered a planned series of up to 39 diamond core drill holes alongside the standard down-hole geophysics surveys spread across the Wishbone Prospect in the centre-west of the Obonga area. 

The Wishbone application supplements Exploration Permit PR-22-000116 which covers work through to 14 July 2025 at the Survey VMS discovery, and the Ottertooth and Silver Rim prospect areas. The work covered by the application follows on from drilling conducted by Panther in 2022 and 2022 — whereby the Company successfully confirmed and characterised the first VMS discovery to be made on the Obonga Greenstone Belt 

Hazelwood noted that ‘our exploration work has confirmed that our Obonga Project's Wishbone Target contains a VMS system, it contains mineralisation across multiple lenses. Geochemical analysis also indicates it’s a sub-seafloor VMS, acknowledged to have greater potential for both tonnage and grade, and an outstanding target for any explorer.’

On 5 March 2024, PALM then announced an extension to its longstanding Obonga Project purchase agreement with Broken Rock Resources — giving the company another year to meet the exploration commitment over the flagship project.

For context, the agreement is that Panther will fund 8,000 meters of drilling on the original Obonga claim package including all associated costs such as assay results and core storage. 

It also had to make a budget available of at least CAD$1 million (which has already been met by Panther) over an initial four year period, ending 31 July 2025, to fund all other operating costs on the area covered by the Claims. This includes trail building, field work, community relations, access rights and personnel costs.

Hazelwood noted that ‘our work on Obonga has gained tremendous traction across the sector. The discovery of two separate VMS systems combined with a graphite opportunity, over a substantial but undefined area from surface, represents huge upside potential.’

On 2 April 2024, Panther applied for another EPA (Exploration Permit Application) for Awkward East at Obonga — for additional drilling following the intersection of significant widths of the previously mentioned graphite mineralisation comprising 27.2m @ 2.25 % Total Graphitic Carbon.

This new Exploration Permit application concerned planned work within 35 Single Cell Mining Claims in the Puddy Lake Area and Obonga Lake Area administrative regions — covering a planned series of up to 31 diamond core drill pads and associated down-hole and surface geophysics surveys spread across the Awkward East application area on the eastern side of the Obonga Project. 

Hazelwood noted that ‘the government of Ontario's vision to create a circular provincial economy places critical minerals right at the heart of that strategy. Gigafactories, both in construction and in planning, are coming to the province endowed with critical minerals. The political will to develop a low carbon economy is unquestionable but to achieve this requires an efficient, locally sourced, supply chain that stands up to the tightest scrutiny. Ontario contains no standalone graphite mines, graphite is a tiny byproduct of mining at Impala's Lac Du Illes mine 80km from Obonga, so any discovery is potentially very significant not just for Panther but also within the halls of power in Ontario.’

It's worth noting that only two drill holes have ever tested the sediments in the Awkward area of Obonga. The first hole in the 1960s reported graphite in the core but this went untested as at the time graphite was essentially worthless. The second hole was Panther’s. 

Groundwork is now being planned to follow up on historical reports stating that there is ‘graphite abundant at surface,’ whilst further electromagnetic geophysics plate modelling work will extend anonymous signatures which could be linked to either graphite or sulphides, both of which have the potential to provide major upside.

On 22 April 2024, PALM then submitted an EPA for Awkward West on Obonga. The Exploration Permit application concerns planned work within 21 Mining Claims in the Puddy Lake Area and Obonga Lake Area.

This additional application covered a planned series of up to 31 diamond core drill pads and associated down-hole and surface geophysics surveys spread across the Awkward West application area on the eastern side of the Obonga Project.

This represents PALM’S third and final drilling application — Hazelwood notes that the company now holds ‘such a dominate position on this greenstone belt, that with further discoveries, interested parties will have to engage with Panther Metals. This was always our strategic aim and is now showing increasing signs of being a very shrewd move.’

For perspective, the edge of the prospective area is only around 1km from a network of trails and roads that lead directly to the main Armstrong to Thunder Bay highway. 

On 24 May 2024, PALM announced the commissioning of a high resolution airborne 

magnetic geophysics survey at Obonga — to be carried out by Pioneer Exploration Consultants over an estimated 430 line/km utilising a UAV over three the VMS prospect areas including the Wishbone Prospect, the Survey Prospect, and the Ottertooth Prospect. 

The Wishbone and Survey prospects are already both known to host VMS mineral systems, based on Panther's 2021 and 2022 drilling programmes — the Ottertooth Prospect is argued as being highly prospective for hosting a VMS system based on regional scale geophysical modelling and lake sediment geochemical data — but the proof as always is in the pudding.

The data created is going to be used to provide a three dimensional inversion model that will help refine planned drill hole orientations to target high grade base metal zones at depth, as well as providing inputs for the mineral system modelling.

Hazelwood noted the ‘stunning achievement by our team to discover two previously unknown VMS systems on Obonga, from a total of only six holes drilled. We must now start to move into the ore discovery phase of work. The 2024 VMS exploration work programme kicks off with the commissioning of three high-resolution magnetic geophysics surveys and 3D inversion modelling as we target stepping out our drilling of the exciting copper, zinc, silver targets at Wishbone and Survey, with Ottertooth being a new VMS exploration zone identified by our team on our flagship Obonga Project.’

A week later on 30 May 2024, Panther appointed Bayside Geoscience to commence graphite focussed ground exploration work on the Awkward and Awkward East prospect areas.

Work was scheduled to start on 3 June — following on from the comprehensive data review, and starting with targeting surface occurrences of graphite noted in historical reports, and with the goal of mapping the strike extensions of the graphite mineralisation intersected by drill hole BBR22_AW-P1-1.

Get used to hearing about that drillhole, it’s key to the company’s vision. Again, Panther intersected a 27m wide zone of graphite mineralisation grading up to 5.12% Total Graphitic Carbon in diamond drillhole BBR22_AW-P1-1. Core samples were analysed by ALS Laboratories for TGC analysis in order to confirm the presence of crystalline 'flake' graphite.

This new Bayside programme will seek to determine the surface extent of graphite along strike from drillhole BBR22_AW-P1-1. Ground prospecting and additional plate modelling has the potential to extend the conductive Trend 3 a further 4.1km eastwards.

Then on 27 June 2024, PALM was finally granted Exploration Permit PR-24-000022 covering Wishbone at Obonga, valid for three years, and covering a planned series of up to 39 diamond core drill holes and associated down-hole geophysics surveys spread across the Wishbone VMS target area. 

The Wishbone Permit supplements Exploration Permit PR-22-000116 which covers work through to 14 July 2025 at Obonga's Survey VMS discovery, and the Ottertooth and Silver Rim prospect areas.

Hazelwood advised that ‘Wishbone stands alone as one of the most exciting, underexplored, VMS greenfield exploration targets in Canada. Our work has defined four new sulphide lenses, zinc at commercial grade, together with anomalous copper and silver within the correct geological setting. The dense cluster of lake sediment copper anomalies within close vicinity of Wishbone are remarkable by any metric and they stand out on both a regional and provincial basis.’

The CEO also noted that ‘The issue of this Permit will allow us to accelerate, and broaden, our ongoing discussions in Canada with potential finance partners.’

On 1 July 2024, investors enjoyed a progress update: Pioneer Exploration Consultants had completed their high resolution airborne magnetic geophysical surveys over the three high prospectivity areas at Obonga. 

Pioneer were, at the time, processing the data sets to prepare a suite of magnetic mapping products as well as a three dimensional inversion model that will help refine planned drill hole orientations to target high-grade base metal zones at depth, as well as providing inputs for the mineral system modelling. 

Given the apparent success of this work to date, Panther is extending the magnetic survey work over additional target areas including the Wishbone VMS, following the recent award of the new Wishbone Exploration Permit and will incorporate the Awkward graphite and conduit target areas into a survey in the near future.

Concomitantly to the completion of the geophysical survey work, Bayside has made good progress on the graphite focussed ground exploration work on the Awkward prospect areas.

Over the course of two separate visits, the Bayside team successfully crossed and mapped five separate regions along strike and parallel to Panther's graphite drill discovery, with the conductive plate modelling targets based on the regional electromagnetic geophysical data.

The team has now mapped out metavolcanic and metasedimentary rock packages constrained by gabbroic intrusives that are orientated strike parallel to the conductive plates. Similar geology has been found by successful neighbours.

It’s also worth noting that rock units at some of the sample areas displayed distinct 

tourmaline veining, a metamorphic hydrothermal mineral that tends to form alongside graphite and gold. 

A representative collection of 19 samples from a total 66 outcrop areas have now been submitted to ALS laboratories for graphite, precious metal and 61 element assay methods. 

The result of this work is arguably going to inform whether PALM enjoys the rest of 2024.

Hazelwood noted that ‘Panther's metallurgical work has already confirmed that the single hole drilled into the 3km long Survey anomaly, intersected another VMS system and this new magnetic geophysics data will help refine the potential size of this deposit over which we have a current drill permit. We also have drill permits for the Ottertooth and Silver Rim prospects, both of which represent areas of high interest that will be targeted in the same aggressive manner we conducted at Survey.’ 

Happily, 19 July 2024 saw Panther awarded the Awkward West Exploration Permit PR-24-000076 — valid for three years and allowing for a comprehensive programme of works over the Awkward West area.

One last time — this includes the 730m long 'Trend 3' graphite target where Panther drilling intersected 27.2 m @ 2.25 % Total Graphitic Carbon from 12m downhole in BBR22_AW-P1-1, including two intersections of over 5% TGC 1, 2, and the Awkward magmatic feeder conduit target that could yield a nickel-copper-platinum-palladium discovery.

The Permit covers a planned series of up to 31 diamond core drill hole pads and associated down-hole geophysics surveys, and up to 12 pits or trenches spread across the Awkward West target area. 

Dotted Lake covers a substantial 36.9 square kilometres within the North Limb of the Schreiber-Helmo Greenstone Belt. This project has become a pivotal focus for Panther as it continues to bolster its presence in this mineral-rich region — with Barrick Gold’s (Hemlo Mine) 16km to the south, and Palladium One (Glencore with a 10% stake) 9km to east, which has discovered a zone of massive nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation.

PALM has already employed an airborne electromagnetic and magnetics geophysics survey, extensive soil sampling and stratigraphic drilling, laying the groundwork for potential discoveries. 

In September 2022, Panther's compilation study revealed a 2.8 km strike length of elevated copper, nickel and cobalt mineralisation. Soil assay results from Dotted Lake have unveiled very high-grade nickel, copper, and cobalt — and the time has come to explore further.

On 10 July 2024, PALM appointed Abitibi Geophysics to provide geophysical modelling services for the project. 

In advance of a planned ground geophysical survey, Abitibi were retained to undertake three-dimensional inversion modelling of the airborne high-resolution magnetic and time-domain electromagnetic geophysical data resulting from the Prospectair Geosurvey survey flown for Panther back in 2020. Abitibi will also be undertaking advanced processing (CET Grid Analysis) of the magnetics data in addition to 3D conductive plate modelling of the TDEM data.

The Abitibi Deliverables will include:

• complete digital files
• colour levels maps of the magnetics data inversion at 3 depths of the total magnetic intensity reduced to the pole and its derivatives 
• 1st vertical derivative, analytic signal, tilt
• colour maps of the frequency migration of the EM responses into early, mid, and late times and of the energy envelope
• maps of the recommended targets, conductors, magnetic trends, and interpreted structures
• maps of the structural analyses and predictive targeting 
• ground geophysics follow-up and drilling recommendations

Whilst the Abitibi work will include the entire Dotted area, the focus of the work will be the eastern side of the project where Panther has delineated a 4.2 km long trend of high priority soil geochemical and geophysical anomalies in association with the Dotted Lake ultramafic intrusion. 

The soil geochemistry in this area shows very anomalous levels of multiple elements including nickel (up to 614ppm Ni), cobalt (214 ppm Co), copper (up to 861 ppm Cu) and zinc (128 ppm Zn). 

Hazelwood commented ‘we are now vectoring into our drill targets on possibly the most exciting undrilled geological target area in Ontario based on the successes by GT Resources on the Tyko zone to our east.’

For perspective, the geological model developed and executed by GT Resources won the company discovery of year for Ontario back in 2020 (and also came with a sizeable share price surge). 

And Panther claims that ‘the north shore of Dotted Lake shows every element required for a discovery based on that model.’

On 22 July 2024, PALM announced the receipt of an exploration permit PR-23-000215 for Dotted — allowing for a comprehensive programme of critical mineral discovery.

Hazelwood noted that ‘Dotted Lake has generated a huge amount of interest since the Canadian listed exploration junior 'GT Resources Inc' began unravelling the new district scale potential along their Tyko One Belt - a target that ultimately led to Glencore taking a stake in that business.

The parallels drawn between those discoveries and what is known about the north shore of Dotted Lake has not been missed by the industry. To date I've fended off any interest; for a junior explorer to have this strength of target, in proximity and comparable to GT's greenfield success, is a rare situation, and Panther's potential for growth is highly favourable given the technical similarities. Owning 100% of this project with no underlying financial instruments has strengthened our hand, the Exploration Permit was the only requirement, and excitedly this is now in place.

With the Permit now in place our options expand. All options will naturally be considered, but in the true spirit of exploration, risk capital deserves the opportunity for the greatest return.

Currently almost no opportunity exists outside of GT Resources for anyone else to enter this new district. Panther has already constructed a trail on the property and so combined with historic logging roads, the required infrastructure is largely in place.

With our 3D geophysical modelling on the north shore underway and discussions at an advanced stage in Canada on how we will finance and conduct a comprehensive programme at Dotted Lake, I look forward to updating the market in the very near future.’

The bottom line

Panther Metals is all about exploration exciting tenure — no major discovery has ever been made without drilling and the CEO intends to do get cracking.

There is going to be multiple drilling programs, with significant interest in both Obonga and Dotted Lake. The real question for investors is what decision the CEO takes to fund his ambitions; drilling is not cheap, and PALM does not currently have the capital to do everything.

The deals he should stay away from is low-level small-scale exploration, or else earn-ins that cripple the finances. Also giving away too much of the prize; we invest in exploration for a massive return — but for balance, 50% of a big winner is better than 100% of underexplored tenure.

And this all is just the tip of the iceberg for Obonga, Manitou and Dotted; I could easily spend hours more on this, but the bottom line is that’s it’s highly prospective, cheap, and well run.

Let’s get drilling.