Panther Metals PLC (LON: PALM), the exploration company focused on mineral projects in Canada, is pleased to provide an update for the Obonga Project (“Obonga” or the “Property”), which covers over 90% of the Obonga Greenstone Belt, in Ontario, Canada.
Preliminary findings from the Phase 1 Diamond Drilling programme at the Wishbone volcanogenic hosted massive sulphide (“VMS”) prospect continue to strengthen our confidence in the scale and potential of this VMS system, with portable x-ray fluorescence (“pXRF”) readings confirming the visual identification of copper minerals grading 8.34% copper in addition to the previously reported zinc mineralisation (grading up to 11.65% Zn) intersected in the previous drilling campaigns at Wishbone.1
Considering the preliminary findings Panther have agreed a further extension of the Obonga sale and purchase agreement to facilitate drill permit renewals to allow for future infill drilling based on the anticipated results of the Phase 1 Diamond Drilling Programme which is due to continue with step-out drilling into 2027.
Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer commented:
“The latest work at Wishbone continues to strengthen our confidence in the scale and potential of this VMS system. The pXRF reading of 8.34% copper is particularly exciting because, alongside the high-grade zinc already identified at Wishbone, we are now seeing clear evidence of significant base-metal grade within the system.
This copper mineralisation also provides a compelling geological explanation for the very significant copper anomalies identified in the historic lake-sediment geochemistry surrounding Wishbone. We have known those anomalies were there; we are now beginning to see the mineralised system capable of producing them.
Importantly, this is not an isolated indicator. The lithologies, alteration, sulphides, geochemistry and mineralisation are all pointing in the same direction. We are seeing every ingredient we would expect from a substantial VMS system – and, critically, we are now seeing grade.
We have always believed we were right about Wishbone. The evidence continues to build around that conviction.
We now look forward to receiving the laboratory assays from the programme and getting back to drilling. Wishbone is a big system, and our job now is to determine just how big and how well mineralised it is.“
Phase 1 Drill Programme Update
The Phase 1 Drill Programme drilling and access trail construction activities at Obonga were paused for a period during Canadian Government wildfire restrictions which impacted much of Northwestern Ontario this summer, with trail building resuming in the second half of August.
The drill core from the three holes drilled to date have been logged and analysed utilising a pXRF spectrometer. In line with the Exploration Permit conditions the drilling activities have paused to accommodate the autumn hunting season and will resume this winter as accommodated by the Obonga extension agreements (announced 6 July 2026).2
The drill core from the summer drilling has been logged and photographed, with magnetic susceptibility readings and pXRF assays undertaken for the entire drill strings. The drill core is currently being processed, and laboratory assays are expected in due course.
Whilst the point-data pXRF readings cannot be considered representative of core intervals as grades can only be reliably determined through the chemical analysis of crushed core samples, they do provide a useful supplement to the identification of specific minerals observed in the drill core, as well as providing a guide to sample selection for laboratory assays and subsequent drill hole planning.
The pXRF readings at Wishbone have confirmed the visual identification of discrete chalcopyrite mineralisation containing up to 8.34% copper (see Figure 1), within a much wider intersection of pyrrhotite dominated massive sulphide and semi-massive sulphide mineralisation (reported 10 July 2026).3
This copper mineralisation is particularly significant as it is the first seen at this tenor in the Obonga drilling and provides compelling geological support for the existence of the expected much more extensive copper mineralisation that could be the source of the significant copper anomalies identified in the lake-sediment samples taken from Wishbone lake and the streams which drain off the Wishbone area both to the north and to the south (Figure 3).
An important characteristic of VMS deposits is that they typically display a zonation of metals within the massive sulphide body from Fe+Cu at the base to Zn+Fe±Pb±Ba at the top and margins, related to differing temperature and chemical conditions at mineral deposition. The major observed mineral component of the Wishbone massive sulphide mineralisation is pyrrhotite with less common pyrite and minor sphalerite and chalcopyrite in distinct zones.
The Wishbone access trail is nearing completion having successfully connected old logging trails via the Obonga West Road to the main road network to Thunder Bay (Figure 2). There is a short section of new trail still required to connect to the drill permit area in addition to further upgrading of the existing logging trails to facilitate year-round access.
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Figure 1: Photograph of drill core with chalcopyrite mineralisation (gold coloured) which yielded pXRF readings of 8.34% Cu at 146.5m downhole depth in drill hole BR26-WB-P1-1. With the measurement screenshot from Olympus Vanta M Series pXRF unit
Figure 2: Section of Panther’s new drill access trail linking the logging trails west of the Obonga West Road with logging trails in the Uneven Lake Area
Obonga Extension
By mutual agreement Panther and Broken Rock Resources Ltd (“Broken Rock”) have agreed to a further extension amendment over Obonga. The extension amendment to the 2021 sale and purchase agreement (the “Amendment Agreement”) extends the terms of the original agreement (as announced 2 August 2021 and amended 6 July 2026), from the previous expiry date of 30 April 2027 to 31 August 2027.2,4
In light of the very positive preliminary findings of the Phase 1 Diamond Drilling programme at the Wishbone VMS prospect, and the drilling at the Awkward Conduit Target (announced 2 June 2026)5, the extension has been agreed to facilitate drill permit renewals to allow for future infill drilling based on the anticipated results of the Phase 1 Diamond Drilling Programme.
In consideration for the extension provided by the Amendment Agreement, the Company have issued share options to subscribe for 25,000 ordinary shares of no par value in the capital of the Company, at an exercise price of £1.70, over a three-year term expiring 31 August 2029. The share options issued under the 2021 sale and purchase agreement expired without exercise on 26 July 2026.
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Figure 3: Lake Sediment Sample Assays Show Very Strong Copper Anomalism Downstream of the Wishbone VMS system |
References
1. Company announcement, dated 11 June 2026, ‘Obonga Project: Diamond Drilling Programme Update, Awkward Conduit Target Hole Complete, Wishbone VMS Prospect Drilling Underway” ( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/panther_metals/news/rns/story/rnzn72r )
2. Company announcement, dated 6 July 2026, ‘Obonga: Extension Agreement and Issue of Equity” ( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/panther_metals/news/rns/story/x4ev5or )
3. Company announcement, dated 10 July 2026, ‘Acquisition, issue of equity, grant of options and total voting rights, Canada – Major Acquisition on the Obonga Greenstone Belt’
( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/panther_metals/news/rns/story/w1zv53x )
4. Company announcement, dated 2 August 2021, ‘ Obonga Project: Wishbone Drill Programme Update‘ ( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/panther_metals/news/rns/story/xz9m6or )
5. Company announcement, dated 2 June 2026, ‘Obonga Project: Awkward Drill Programme Update”
( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/panther_metals/news/rns/story/rymmoyr )
For further information, please contact:
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Panther Metals PLC: Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer: |
+44 (0)1462 429 743 |
