Awkward East Permit Application

Panther Metals PLC (LSE:PALM) the company focused on developing Canada's next VMS camp and graphite deposit, is pleased to announce it has submitted an Exploration Permit application for additional drilling following the intersection of significant widths of graphite mineralisation comprising 27.2m @ 2.25 % Total Graphitic Carbon 1, on the Awkward Prospect at the Company's Obonga Project ("Obonga") located on the Obonga Greenstone Belt in northern Ontario.

The Exploration Permit application concerns planned work within 35 Single Cell Mining Claims ("Claims") in the Puddy Lake Area and Obonga Lake Area administrative regions.

The submitted application covers 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. The Awkward East claims covering a total area of 7.25km2 are covered by a Purchase Agreement announced on 29 December 2023 2.

Details of the permit application is outlined in Table 1 below.

Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"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.

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 was the norm in that era as graphite wasn't seen as a positive commodity. The second hole, drilled by Panther in the autumn of 2022 returned 27.2 meters grading 2.2% total graphitic carbon from only 8 meters below surface. The outlook for graphite is now overwhelmingly more positive as the world stives to cut emissions and graphite has become a major constituent in the battery revolution.

Our in-depth review of historic geological reports combined with our own work has led to us reporting a prospective graphite exploration area of around 21 km2 at Awkward. Groundwork is now being planned to follow up on historical reports stating "graphite abundant at surface", and multiple other reports of graphite at surface, whilst further electromagnetic geophysics plate modelling work will seek to extend anonymous signatures which could be linked to either graphite or sulphides, both of which have the potential to provide major upsides to Panther.

This drilling application is to allow us to build our understanding and develop the graphite potential in the area and I look forward to updating the market in due course."

Table 1: Exploration Permit Application and Prospect Details

Reference Notes

1 Panther Metals PLC company announcement, 'Graphite Discovery Grows Significantly at Obonga', dated 11 January 2024 ( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/panther_metals/news/rns/story/wv484pw )

2 Panther Metals PLC company announcement, 'Obonga Project Awkward East Claim Purchase Agreement', dated 29 December 2023 ( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/panther_metals/news/rns/story/xlj3d7r )

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Conclusion