Panther Metals plc (LON: PALM), a junior mineral exploration company focused on projects in Ontario, Canada, raised £3.78m in fresh equity during the first half of 2026 to accelerate drilling that has since turned up its strongest copper grades to date.
The company’s half-year results, published today, show cash at bank rising to £1,384,083 at 30 June from just £71,085 at end-2025.
The shares closed at 150p on Friday, unchanged from the previous close, with the interim figures landing after that session.
The funding came via a placing of 1.7 million shares at 70p in February and a second placing of 1.85 million shares at 135p in June, plus warrant conversions, taking net assets to £4,730,037 from £2,234,684 at end-2025.
That cash funded an accelerated Phase 1 diamond drilling programme at Obonga’s Wishbone and Awkward targets, where drilling intersected massive and semi-massive sulphide mineralisation. Portable X-ray readings at Wishbone identified chalcopyrite, a copper-bearing mineral, running up to 8.34% copper, the highest-grade copper seen at Obonga. A first hole at the Awkward Conduit Target reached 401 metres and hit the intrusive rock sequence targeted for nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation. Drilling was paused during wildfire restrictions in Northwestern Ontario over the summer, resuming in late August.
Alongside Obonga, a vibracore sampling programme at the Winston Tailings Project completed 109 sampling locations, finding tailings up to 16.8 metres thick and averaging 8.7 metres. That work is feeding into an ongoing SRK Exploration mineral resource estimate, a formal calculation of material Panther could eventually extract, its clearest route to a near-term development asset.
Nicholas O’Reilly, Executive Chairman of Panther Metals, set out the scale of the period’s progress in the results statement.
I am pleased to update shareholders and stakeholders on the significant progress achieved across Panther’s project portfolio during the six-month period ended 30 June 2026 and subsequent developments through to 25 September 2026.
Nicholas O’Reilly, Executive Chairman, Panther Metals plc
The progress came at a cost. The total comprehensive loss widened to £992,720 from £926,545 a year earlier, even as loss per share narrowed to 10.60p from 16.34p on a larger share count. The Board said the group must raise further funds within 12 months to sustain its exploration plans and maintain its listing, underlining that Panther remains a pre-revenue explorer reliant on equity markets and further drill success.