Half Year Report 30 September 2022

RNS Number : 9024K

Panthera Resources PLC

23 December 2022

 

23 December 2022

Panthera Resources PLC

(Panthera or the Company)

Interim Results - Six months ended 30 September 2022

Panthera Resources PLC  (AIM: PAT), the gold exploration and development company with key assets in West Africa and India, is pleased to announce its unaudited interim results for the half-year ended 30 September 2022.

Highlights

· Total loss for the reporting period of $1,477,506 or $0.01 per share (2021: $1,943,501 loss or $0.02 per share) reflecting our ongoing commitment to our exploration activities during the period

· Completed the agreement with Diamond Fields Resources Inc (DFR) providing up to US$18 million in exploration and development funding for the Cascades Project.

· Moydow completed a 4975 metre RC drilling campaign at the Cascades Project which produced a significant discovery at the TT13 prospect.

· Completion of the geophysics, together with the current geological mapping exercise at Bido identified a zone of clustered vein targets.

· At Bassala, a 5931 metre AC drilling programme completed which defined five significant prospects - the most significant being Tabakorole, with a 2km strike length.

· Continued to pursue the grant of the Prospecting Licence over the Bhukia project through both commercial resolution and the legal proceedings ongoing in the High Court of Rajasthan (Court). 

Mark Bolton, Managing Director of Panthera Resources, commented:

"Despite the challenging equitymarket conditions for gold juniors, the year to date has again been one marked by significant field activity on our extensive West African assets.  This is in part supported by the completion of the Moydow restructuring and funding agreement with DFR.

At the Cascades Project, drilling by Moydow saw a significant discovery at the TT13 prospect.  With 22 new untested drilling targets identified, the Company is confident that the existing mineral resource estimate will continue to grow with further drilling.

At Bido, an IP Geophysical Survey, geological mapping and outcrop rock sampling has identified a zone of clustered vein targets that are now 'drill ready'. "

Events Post Balance Date

In October 2022, the Company completed an equity capital raising of £500,000.

Project Activities

Cascades (Burkina Faso)

The Cascades Project, formerly named Labola, is owned and managed by Moydow Holdings Ltd (Moydow).  Following a restructuring completed and announced on 30 June 2022, Panthera currently holds an equity interest of 20% in Moydow with DFR agreeing to spend up to US$18 million (Earn-In) on Cascades in order to maintain its ownership interest of up to 80%.

The Cascades gold exploration project is in the Banfora greenstone belt of the West African Birimian Supergroup in southwest Burkina Faso. Cascades is approximately 450km west-southwest of the capital, Ouagadougou, and 100km northeast of the Wahgnion gold mine, operated by Endeavour Mining.

More than 65,500m of historical drilling (541 holes) has been completed across multiple drilling campaigns by previous owners with Moydow exploring the area since August 2020.  Following a 2021 drilling program by Moydow, a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) was published in October 2021 as stated in Table 1:

  Table 1 Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate, October 2021

Indicated Mineral Resource:	5.41Mt @ 1.52g/t Au (264,000oz)
Inferred Mineral Resource:	6.93Mt @ 1.67g/t Au (371,000oz)

Between May 2022 and July 2022, a 4975 metre Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling programme was completed by Moydow.  The programme incorporated infill resource definition and step-out drilling at the Daramandougou area and first-pass exploration drilling on two new previously untested targets in the newly acquired Wuo Land 2 concession (as announced by the Company on 11 March 2022), namely the TT-13 and the Big South targets. A breakdown of the drilling by area is given in Table 1 .

Table 2   RC  drilling programme, May-July 2022

Target Area	No. Holes	Metres
Daramandougou	21	2,545
TT-13	9	1,068
Big South	13	1,362
TOTAL	43	4,975

The drilling at Daramandougou is not expected to add significant new resource ounces within the existing resource envelope, however, the data will help to strengthen the geological model and potentially assist in resource classification.

Two new targets in the newly acquired Wuo Land 2 licence area, TT-13 and Big South, were tested in a first-pass drilling programme.

The TT-13 structure has been mapped for a strike length of approximately 3,000 metres. It runs parallel and to the east of the Daramadougou/Wuo Ne structure.  The sampling campaign during 1Q 2022 confirmed ore-grade mineralisation in several artisanal workings with grades up to 25.4 g/t Au.  Three holes in particular intersected significant mineralisation in what appears to be a westerly dipping mineralisation envelope up to 20-35 metres wide with notable intersections listed below ("LW" is gold analysed by Leachwell method while "FA" is gold analysed by 50g fire assay):

· CS22-RC027 45-55m, 10m@1.55 g/tLW (1.38 g/t FA)

· CS22-RC028 25-29m, 4m@2.10 g/t LW (1.56 g/t FA)

· CS22-RC028 38-54m, 16m@1.26g/t LW (1.2g/t FA)

· CS22-RC029 27-36m, 9m @1.08 g/t LW (0.93 g/t FA)

· CS22-RC029 56-66m, 10m@1.81g/t LW (1.39g/t FA)

Drilling at the Big South target tested an extensive artisanal zone.  Most of the drill holes in the northern half of the zone reported some low-grade mineralisation within an envelope consistent with the area of the artisanal workings.  The extent and intensity of the artisanal workings here, supported by mapping and sampling, point to a potentially importanta and large mineralised zone. However, this phase of drilling did not confirm any ore grade zones at the Big South target.  Follow-up geological mapping of the mineralised structure will be needed here before the next round of drilling is planned. 

Bassala Project (Mali)

The Bassala project is located within the highly gold-endowed Birimian volcano-sedimentary belt in southwestern Mali, approximately 200km south of the capital city Bamako.

The belt hosts the Kalana (Endeavour Mining, 4Moz) and Kodieran (Wassoul'or, 2Moz) gold mines, both within a few kilometres of the Bassala project.  The adjacent belt to the west is also well endowed with gold and hosts the Siguiri (AngloGold Ashanti ("AngloGold"), 17Moz), Tri-K (Avocet Mining, 3Moz), Kobada (African Gold Group, 3Moz), and Yanfolila (Hummingbird Resources, 2Moz) gold mines.

In June 2022 and July 2022, the Company completed a 5931 metre drilling programme to follow up results of earlier drilling across the Bassala North, Bassala Central and Bassala South Sectors, , with main findings being:

· Five significant prospects defined from initial and follow-up geochemical drilling campaigns

· The most significant prospect is the Tabakorole Prospect which has a 2km strike length within which drilling has identified wide zones of mineralisation

· The 2022 drill programme comprised  2,601m reverse circulation (RC) drilling in 23 drill holes and 3,030m air-core (AC) geochemical drilling completed in 50 drill holes

· Significant silica-chlorite-sulphide alteration and associated quartz veining were observed for most targeted intervals

· Drill assay results (based on 5m composite sampling) include:

5 metres at 5.60 g/t Au from 40m

5 metres at 4.68 g/t Au from 10m

5 metres at 3.73 g/t Au from 35m.

Bido (Burkina Faso)

The Bido permit in Burkina Faso is located on the Koudougou quadrangle some 125km WSW of the capital Ouagadougou. The tenement lies within the Boromo greenstone belt which also hosts the Poura gold deposit (1 to 2 Moz), situated about 50 km to the SSW of the area, as well as numerous gold occurrences.

During the half year, the Company completed an IP geophysical survey and expanded its geological mapping and outcrop rock sampling, the main points arising being:

· The geophysical survey has identified 28 strong IP anomalies;

· Most targets correlate with outcropping mineralised vein systems and or extensive artisanal workings;

· Survey covered the Beredo and the Somika areas with several other mineralised domains to be tested including the Kwademen prospect;

· Recent gold in rock sample results identified several outcropping mineralised vein systems coincident with the strong IP anomalies, , best results from grab sampling being:

-  42.2g/t Au

-  20.0g/t Au

-  13.6g/t Au

-  13.4g/t Au

-  10.9g/t Au

The completion of the geophysics, together with ongoing current geological mapping is the final step ahead of future drilling campaigns.

Bhukia Project (India)

During the period, the Company continued its efforts to secure an amicable outcome with the Government of Rajasthan (GoR). In parallel, the Company has continued to seek the enforcement of its rights through the High Court of Rajasthan. 

The Company made its initial investment in Bhukia, through its 95% owned Australian subsidiary, Indo Gold Pty Limited (IGPL), in 2005.  The Company's rights to be granted a Prospecting Licence over Bhukia, through its joint venture partner, have been consistently frustrated over an extended period by the GoR.  More recently, the Prospecting Licence Application over Bhukia was again rejected by the GoR in August 2018 on various spurious and legally untenable grounds.  The Company subsequently obtained an interim Stay Order from the Hon'ble Rajasthan High Court which remains in place subject to ongoing proceedings there.

In 2021, the Government of India (GoI) passed a new act (MMDR2021) to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 2015 (MMDR2015).  Under Clause 13 of the MMDR2021, any pending Prespecting Licence Applications (PLA) have lapsed, therefore, potentially impacting the Company's rights to the Bhukia and Taregaon projects.  Furthermore, under Clause 13 of the MMDR2021, the holder of a reconnaissance permit or prospecting licence whose rights lapsed shall be reimbursed the expenditure incurred towards reconnaissance or prospecting operations in such manner as may be prescribed by the GoI.  This expenditure on account of reimbursement may increase in case any foreign investor invokes Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements executed between India and other countries.

On 18 February 2021, the Company announced that it had appointed Fasken to advise the Company on a potential dispute with the Republic of India concerning the Bhukia Joint Venture Project (Bhukia).  Specifically, Fasken is advising the Company on its potential dispute under the Australia-India Bilateral Investment Treaty of 26 February 1999 (AIBIT) concerning Bhukia, which includes past, present and any future acts and/or omissions by India and its state entities and actors.  Fasken has advised that a potential claim under the AIBIT has legal merit.  The Company continues to engage with several potential litigation funders to support a potential claim under the AIBIT.

Diamond Fields Transaction

In August 2021, Panthera announced that it has entered into agreements to restructure its ownership interests in Moydow and underlying assets (together the "Transaction").  Upon completion of the Transaction in June 2022, the Transaction resulted in:

· US$18 million farm-out agreement on Cascades Project with DFR;

· Spin-out of Kalaka and Nigeria projects from Moydow into a new entity ("Maniger"); and

· Panthera secures 50% interest and operatorship of Maniger

The Transaction with DFR provides significant finance to progress the Cascades Project to the next stage, primarily the bankable feasibility study.  Panthera's significant ongoing interest in Cascades of up to 30% ensures that the Company will benefit from any success, while not diluting shareholders' exposure to the Company's other assets including Bassala, Bido and India.  The 'spin out' of the Kalaka and Nigeria projects into Maniger preserves our interest in Kalaka independent of Cascades.

In summary, the DFR transaction secures significant multi-year financing for Cascades, ameliorates the potential concentration of risk and maximises shareholder exposure to the growth opportunity from our wider asset portfolio.

Funding

Based on current expenditure levels, all funds will be used within the next 6 months. The Group's ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon raising additional capital.

Panthera Resources PLC
Unaudited Interim Financial Information for the period ended

30 September 2022

Set out below are the unaudited result of the group for the six months to 30 September 2022.

Group Statement of Comprehensive Income
For the six months ended 30 September 2022
		Six months to 30 September 2022	Six months to 30 September 2021
	Notes	Unaudited $USD	Unaudited $USD
Continuing operations
Revenue		-	-
Gross profit		-	-
Other Income		13	9,749
Exploration costs expensed		(842,611)	(741,512)
Administrative expenses		(427,279)	(396,543)
Share option expenses		-	-
Share of losses in Investment in Associate	2	(167,066)	(816,194)
AIM Listing and acquisition related costs		-	-
Loss from operations		(1,436,943)	(1,944,500)
Investment revenues		7	-
Loss on sale of assets		-	-
Loss before taxation		(1,436,936)	(1,944,500)
Taxation		-	-
Other comprehensive income
Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss:
Changes in the fair value of financial assets measured at FVOCI		-	-
Gain on sale to non controlling interest		-	-
Exchange differences		(40,570)	999
Loss and total comprehensive income for the year		(1,477,506)	(1,943,501)
Total loss for the year attributable to:
- Owners of the Parent Company		(1,432,158)	(1,921,284)
- Non-controlling interest		(4,778)	(23,218)
		(1,436,936)	(1,944,502)
Total comprehensive income for the year attributable to:
- Owners of the Parent Company		(1,472,728)	(1,920,283)
- Non controlling interest		(4,778)	(23,218)
		(1,477,506)	(1,943,501)
Earnings per share attributable to the owners of the parent
Continuing operations (undiluted/diluted)		(0.01)	(0.02)

Group Statement of Financial Position
As at 30 September 2022
		30 September 2022	30 September 2021
	Notes	Unaudited $USD	Unaudited $USD
Non-current assets
Intangible Assets		1,251,457	-
Property, plant and equipment		5,069	3,422
Investments		1,360,143	1,437,070
Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income		-	-
		2,616,669	1,440,492
Current assets
Trade and other receivables		22,177	175,230
Cash and cash equivalents		116,306	481,147
		138,483	656,377
Total assets		2,755,152	2,096,869
Non-current liabilities
Provisions		40,563	44,706
Deferred tax liabilities		-	-
		40,563	44,706
Current liabilitites
Provisions		21,654	18,466
Trade and other payables		138,729	197,395
Total liabilitites		200,946	260,567
Net assets		2,554,206	1,836,302
Equity
Share capital		1,602,673	1,216,198
Share premium		21,749,902	18,836,758
Capital reorganisation reserve		537,757	537,757
Other reserves		1,295,076	1,535,923
Retained earnings		(22,264,684)	(19,941,502)
Total equity attributable to owners of the parent		2,920,724	2,185,134
Non-controlling interest		(366,518)	(348,832)
Total equity		2,554,206	1,836,302

Group Statement of changes of equity

For the six months ended 30 September 2022

	Share Capital	Share premium account	Capital re-organisation reserve	Other reserves	Retained earnings	Total equity	Non-controlling interest	Total
	Unaudited $USD	Unaudited $USD	Unaudited $USD	Unaudited $USD	Unaudited $USD	Unaudited $USD	Unaudited $USD	Unaudited $USD
Balance at 1 April 2021	1,216,198	18,836,758	537,757	1,454,157	(18,021,219)	4,023,651	(325,614)	3,698,037
Loss for the year					(1,921,283)	(1,921,283)	(23,218)	(1,944,501)
Foreign exchange differences realised during the year					999	999		999
Total comprehensive income for the year	-	-	-	-	(1,920,284)	(1,920,284)	(23,218)	(1,943,502)
Foreign exchange differences on translation of currency				81,766	-	81,766	-	81,766
Total transactions in the year recognised directly in equity	-	-	-	81,766	-	81,766	-	81,766
Balance at 30 September 2021	1,216,198	18,836,758	537,757	1,535,923	(19,941,503)	2,185,133	(348,832)	1,836,301
Balance at 1 April 2022	1,408,715	20,510,881	537,757	1,117,139	(20,791,956)	2,782,536	(361,740)	2,420,796
Loss for the year					(1,432,158)	(1,432,158)	(4,778)	(1,436,936)
Foreign exchange differences realised during the year					(40,570)	(40,570)		(40,570)
Total comprehensive income for the year	-	-	-	-	(1,472,728)	(1,472,728)	(4,778)	(1,477,506)
Issue of shares during period	193,958	1,239,021				1,432,979		1,432,979
Loss on remeasurement of financial assets at FVOCI				295		295		295
Foreign exchange differences on translation of currency				177,642	(0)	177,642		177,642
Total transactions in the year recognised diectly in equity	193,958	1,239,021	-	177,937	-	1,610,916	-	1,610,916
Balance at 30 September 2022	1,602,673	21,749,902	537,757	1,295,076	(22,264,684)	2,920,724	(366,518)	2,554,206

Group Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 30 September 2022

	Six months to 30 September 2022	Six months to 30 September 2021
	Unaudited $USD	Unaudited $USD
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash used in operations	(1,472,597)	(1,191,796)
Income taxes paid	-	-
Net cash outflow from operating activities	(1,472,597)	(1,191,796)
Investing activities
		-
Sale/(purchase) of property, plant and equipment	-	-
Sale/(Purchases) of financial assets at FVOCI	-	-
Sale/(Purchase) of Investments	-	-
Net cash generated/(used) in investing activities	-	-
Financing activities
Proceeds from issue of shares	1,412,979	-
Proceeds from issue of shares in subsidiaries	-	-
Proceeds from share applications	-	-
Loans repaid from other companies	-	-
Loans advanced to other companies	-	-
Effect of exchange rate movement on cash	(1)	81,768
Net cash generaged from financing activities	1,412,978	81,768
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	(59,619)	(1,110,028)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year	175,925	1,591,175
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year	116,306	481,147

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1.	Basis of preparation
	The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRS IC) interpretations as adopted by the European Union applicable to companies under IFRS. The Group Financial Statements have been prepared under historic cost convention. The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, except for the valuation of investments at fair value through profit or loss. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out in the Annual Report 31 March 2022. The functional currency of the Company is British Pounds (£). This is due to the Company being registered in the U.K and being listed on AIM, a London based market. Additionally, a large proportion of its administrative and operative costs are denominated in £. The financial statements are prepared in United States Dollars ($), which is the reporting currency of the Group. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest whole dollar. This has been selected to align the Group with accounting policies of other major gold-producing Companies, the majority of whom report in $. As permitted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, the Company has not presented its own statement of comprehensive income and related notes. The Company's total comprehensive loss for the period was $1,480,858 (2021: $1,159,289).
2.	Impairment Expense
	Group  Six months to 30 September 2022 Six months to 30 September 2021 $ USD $ USD Moydow consolidated loss for the applicable period 364,774 1,782,083 Ownership of Moydow until 30 June 2022 40% 45.8% Share of loss attributable to Group / Diminution in value of Company investment 167,066 816,194 The Group's holding in Moydow Holdings Limited (Moydow), has been adjusted by the Group's pro rata share of the loss incurred by Moydow for the three-month period ended 30 June 2022.  The Moydow investment is equity accounted for the three months ended 30 June 2022, when the Group's holding was diluted to 20% following the completion of the Moydow Restructure.  The Group has not recognised any impairment to the Moydow investment as at 30 September 2022.  Moydow's losses for the period principally comprise exploration activities which are expensed as incurred.
3.	Events Subsequent to Reporting Date Capital Raising Subsequent to 30 September, the Company completed an equity capital raising of £500,000 at 5 pence per share ("the Placing).  Pursuant to the capital raise, the Company has issued 10,000,000 shares for £500,000 in proceeds during October 2022.  In addition, subscribers received one option for every two ordinary shares, exercisable at a price of 6.68 pence on or before 10 December 2025.  In aggregate 5,000,000 options have been granted pursuant to broking arrangements for the capital raise on 3 October 2022. As at the date of this report, the issued ordinary share capital of Panthera consists of 130,854,081 ordinary shares.

Contacts

Panthera Resources PLC

Mark Bolton (Managing Director)  [phone]

  [e-mail]

Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker)  [phone]

John Depasquale / Vivek B hardwaj (Corporate Finance) 

Kelly Gardiner / Stefano Aquilino (Sales & Corporate Broking)

Novum Securities Limited (Joint Broker)  [phone]

Colin Rowbury

Financial Public Relations

Vigo Consulting Ltd  [phone]

Oliver Clark

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Qualified Person

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.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

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**

 

END

 

 

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