Panther Metals (PALM ) has raised £2.5 million through a placing of shares at 135p.
The placing received substantial backing from new and existing institutional investors and existing shareholders, and was significantly oversubscribed and subject to scale back.
The money raised will go to support the expansion of the ongoing diamond drilling programme at the Wishbone volcanic massive sulphide prospect on the Obonga project in northwest Ontario.
Additional capital allocation will allow the mobilisation of a second diamond core drilling rig to accelerate and extend past the initial 2,000 metre drilling budget.
The first diamond core drill hole at Wishbone, which had attained a downhole depth of approximately 185 metres at end of day shift 17 June 2026 local time, has intersected six distinct zones of massive, semi-massive and iron-silicate dominated sulphide mineralisation commencing at a downhole depth of 77.75 metres and continuing to the current logged downhole depth of 167m.
This include mineralisation includes 3.45 metres of pyrrhotite-dominated massive sulphide and 9.9 metres of semi-massive sulphide from 77.75 metres.
Between 98 metres and 105 metres, visual core logging has identified sulphide-rich metasediments interpreted as greenalite exhalite rocks. These greenalites continue alternating in sulphide tenor from 112.5 metres to 119 metres, with further pyrrhotite massive sulphide and semi-massive sulphide to current logged depth of 167 metres.
An allocation from the additional funds secured will also allow the company to advance the Winston tailings project through the Recovery of Minerals permitting process by supporting additional phases of Extrakt metallurgical testwork and recovery plant design and plans.
"The sulphide mineralisation observed in the first diamond drill hole of the current Wishbone drilling programme is particularly encouraging when viewed alongside the results from previous drilling at Wishbone, where we intersected 3.6 metres grading 3.9% zinc, including two metres at 6.8% zinc and 4.3 grams per tonne silver, with individual assays returning up to 11.65% zinc,” said Darren Hazelwood, chief executive of Panther.
“Importantly, the first drill hole has intersected significant intervals of visually identified massive sulphide and semi-massive mineralisation, bearing all the signs of a fertile volcanogenic massive sulphide system, providing further support for our geological model and reinforcing the prospectivity of the Wishbone target area. Whilst visual observations are not a substitute for laboratory assays, the quantity and apparent thickness of massive sulphide encountered is highly encouraging and compares favourably with mineralisation associated with previous high-grade zinc intersections. The £2.5 million fundraising will enable the company to undertake a comprehensive drilling campaign aimed at defining the scale and continuity of the mineralised system."
View from Vox
This placing was undertaken at only a marginal discount, and will go towards developing the significant upside that is becoming apparent at Wishbone. The long intersections of sulphides that have been encountered bode well for when the assays are finally returned. The heavy participation by existing investors in this latest round underlines the support there is for Panther now in the market, after a few lean years when mining in general was on the back foot. Now, with the newly enlarged mineralised footprint at Winston, where permitting is ongoing, and the expanded drill campaign at Wishbone, the momentum truly is with Panther. The shares have more than doubled over the past year, and it’s not hard to see that trajectory continuing.