Panther Metals strikes multiple gold nuggets in preparatory drilling at Laverton project

Panther Metals (ASX: PNT) has discovered numerous gold nuggets including a gold-in-quartz specimen at the Comet Well and Comet Well South prospects within its Laverton gold project in Western Australia.

The initial discoveries were made during preparations for a drilling campaign and more were identified in subsequent detection activities in close proximity to the drill targets.

The majority of nuggets were recovered as fine gold weighing less than 1 gram, with occasional larger nuggets of up to 8.5g.

In-quartz specimen

The nuggets were primarily found within surficial cover to depths of up to 0.4 metres, with the gold-in-quartz specimen located within drainage works approximately 80m from a proposed drill line.

Prospecting and field mapping will continue to assess the abundance of gold within the area where the nuggets were discovered.

The results will be integrated into the company’s datasets of historical and recent alluvial gold finds.

‘Gold-rich potential’

Managing director Daniel Tuffin said the gold nuggets would add to Laverton’s prospectivity.

“These findings were initially made during drill preparations and are highlighted by a very encouraging gold-in-quartz specimen,” he said.

“They underscore the under-explored, gold-rich potential of the greater Laverton project area and the effectiveness of our exploration strategies.”

Burtville East drilling

Panther’s upcoming drilling campaign will comprise ten targets for 7,000m over 35km of continuous strike to follow up on a 600m reverse circulation program completed at the Burtville East prospect in 2022 that had a best intercept of 15m at 53.94 grams per tonne gold from 27m including 1m at 478g/t from 28m.

Burtville East is located on the north-western edge of the Laverton project within an area believed to contain some of the region’s most prospective and under-explored gold ground.

It comprises historic underground workings along with existing mineralised stockpiles, which are reported to be ready for treatment.

Historic grab samples from these stockpiles have returned grades of up to 38.45g/t gold, while grabs taken by Panther in 2022 returned a peak grade of 21.70g/t.