Panther Metals (LSE:PALM) has agreed to raise gross proceeds of £2.22m (CAD$4.16m) through a Canadian flow-through share placing with PearTree Securities, a financing structure the London-listed exploration company says it is the first solely UK-listed firm to execute.
The exploration company, which is focused on mineral projects in Canada, said the placing is expected to close around 16 October, subject to regulatory approvals. It sees the issue of 980,398 units at CAD$4.24 (£2.26) each, with each unit comprising one ordinary share and half a warrant exercisable at £2.67 over 36 months.
The issue price represents a 24% premium to Panther's last closing price on the London Stock Exchange on 7 October, a premium the company attributes to the tax incentives flow-through shares carry for Canadian investors under the Income Tax Act.
Proceeds are earmarked for eligible exploration expenses that qualify as flow-through critical mineral mining expenditures, which carry a federal 30% investment tax credit and, for Ontario-resident individual investors, a further 5% provincial credit.
The funds will primarily support the continuation of the Phase 1 diamond drilling programme at the Wishbone VMS prospect on the Obonga Project in northwest Ontario into 2027, and the company said the proceeds are restricted to that purpose and cannot be used for working capital.
"Importantly, on closing, this financing will fully fund all our planned exploration requirements for the next 12 months and will complete one of the final requirements on our path towards a CSE listing," chief executive Darren Hazelwood said.
Panther raised £2.5m in a placing in June to expand the Phase 1 Wishbone programme and mobilise a second diamond core rig from Manitoba, and the company has reported visual sulphide intersections from the first two Wishbone holes, including portable X-ray fluorescence readings confirming chalcopyrite mineralisation grading 8.34% copper, with laboratory assays still pending.
Drilling paused this summer under Canadian wildfire restrictions and again for the autumn hunting season, with work due to resume this winter and step-out drilling planned into 2027.