Panthera Resources plc (LON: PAT), the gold exploration and development company with assets in India and West Africa, today announced the grant of a new exploration licence (Permis de Recherché) replacing and significantly extending the tenure of the Kalaka licence in Mali, West Africa. Additionally, the Company is able to provide an update on delayed Court proceedings pertaining to the Bhukia project in India.
Highlights
· The replacement Kalaka licence has been granted for an initial period of 3 years with two possible 2 year extensions, taking the total likely tenure period to 7 years.
· The Company’s recent work in the licence area has identified a large geophysical (IP/chargeability) anomaly. This anomaly is related to disseminated sulphides associated with low-grade gold mineralization identified by previous drilling, which included:
o 246.3m @ 0.55g/t Au from 55m, including 56m @ 1.02g/t Au
o 191.8m @ 0.52g/t Au from 9m, including 6m @ 1.47g/t Au and 4m @ 2.47g/t Au
o 175.4m @ 0.49g/t Au from 25m, including 25m @ 1.21g/t Au
· Importantly, the highest magnitude part of the IP anomaly trends away from areas of previous exploration and has not been tested by deep drilling. This is a target for higher grade mineralisation based on the interpreted higher sulphide content.
Geoff Stanley, Panthera Resources Managing Director said “The granting of this licence gives Panthera a meaningfully longer period of tenure and allows us to confidently follow up on the successful generative geophysics work we have undertaken. The gold mineralised system identified at Kalaka is clearly extensive (greater than 1km in length) and continuous and we now appear to have a targeting mechanism that we postulate has identified the highest-grade areas of the system. We plan on testing this anomaly with deep drilling as soon as practical.”
Exploration Opportunity
The new licence has been granted to our local 100% owned subsidiary company – Panthera Mali Resources SARL on behalf of our Joint Venture partners (Golden Spear Mali SARL) for an initial period of 3 years commencing 31st December 2018. This may be renewed for a further 2 years and then an additional 2 years if all conditions are met.
The project is located in the southern part of Mali, within a poorly explored Birimian greenstone belt. Previous work by other explorers has outlined several zones of significant gold mineralisation, including the K1A anomaly, a large zone of low-grade gold mineralisation associated with mafic intrusions and meta-sediments that has been defined over a strike of about 1km and up to 200m width.
Significant drill intercepts by previous explorers include:
· K1AD001: 246.3m @ 0.55g/t Au from 55m, including 56m @ 1.02g/t Au
· K1AD002: 191.8m @ 0.52g/t Au from 9m, including 6m @ 1.47g/t Au and 4m @ 2.47g/t Au
· K1AD006: 175.4m @ 0.49g/t Au from 25m, including 25m @ 1.21g/t Au
Recent geophysical work by Panthera has shown that the known mineralisation at K1A has an associated IP chargeability anomaly related to the disseminated sulphides (pyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite) within the alteration and mineralisation. This anomaly has been shown to trend away from the zone that has been drill tested to date, with the most chargeable part of the IP anomaly not tested by any deep drilling. This is seen as a very good target for higher grade mineralisation based on the interpreted higher sulphide content.
Elsewhere in the Licence
In the south of the licence (Southern Artisanal Prospect) extensive artisanal workings occur over an area of about 900m x 130m trending in a NNE direction with a cross cutting trend over an area of about 500m x 50m trending in a NW direction.
This has very similar rock types and alteration to the K1A mineralisation and is only tested by three shallow RC drill holes which we believe did not reached target depth. Rock chip samples of dump material have returned up to 10.5g/t Au. This is also considered to be a priority area with potential for higher grade mineralisation than K1A, especially where the two trends intersect. Further geophysics and drill testing are warranted.
A second zone of artisanal workings over an area of about 300m by 50m is located within felsic rock types and this has not been drill tested at all to date. In addition, several other soil anomalies, geophysical targets, structural targets and/or drill intercepts also require additional follow-up.
Bhukia Permitting Update
As previously reported, the recent Rajasthan state elections resulted in a change of government. Following this change a new Attorney General and Associate Attorney General were appointed for the state in mid-January. The government’s response to our recent Writ Petition requires review by the new appointees prior to submission to the court. While the government’s response was due within four weeks of the 26 September 2018 Court hearing where our Writ Petition was admitted and stay protection granted, we anticipate further intermittent delays as the Court is likely to provide the government leniency following the election and change of administration. We will update the market as the case progresses, but in the meantime we have begun the process of engaging with the new administration with a view to negotiating the grant of the Bhukia prospecting licence.
