30-Nov-2022: Halls Creek Gold was probably best viewed as providing the cashflow to keep the company going until they got Norseman up and running, which they now have. Norseman is going to be a much bigger operation and generate much more revenue, even though Pantoro only hold 50% of Norseman and they own 100% of Halls Creek. The interesting bit about Halls Creek is their recent PGE (platinum group elements) discovery - and whether they sell that off or try to develop that themselves.

Chalice Mining (CHN) were a gold miner and then they unearthed the largest PGE discovery in Australian history at their Gonneville deposit within the Julimar nickel-copper-PGE project in Western Australia. Now Chalice is all about Julimar and is no longer regarded as a gold company - which is why I removed them from my Gold Sector (Gold ETFs and Miners) watchlist over in the Gold as an Investment thread.

Further Reading: https://www.australianmining.com.au/features/is-australia-about-to-go-platinum/ [April 2022]

"As part of a maiden indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate published in November 2021, the Julimar discovery contains 10 million ounces of palladium, platinum and gold – collectively called 3E (3 elements) – plus more than 900 thousand tonnes of base metals, paving the way for the emergence of a new world-class critical minerals industry." - from that Australian Mining (.com.au) article linked to above.

Now Pantoro's Halls Creek PGE discovery is not even close to being in that league, but I'm just saying they could go off in that direction, which certainly seemed to pay off for CHN - particularly in 2021 when their SP went from around $4 to almost $10.

But of course I would not expect that sort of upside with PNR anyway, because they haven't found very much up there yet.

But, yes, I certainly regard their Halls Creek Gold operation to be at risk of being put on care and maintenance (C&M) or being sold off, possibly sold off along with the Halls Creek PGE tenements, now that Norseman is up and running.

In one respect, I think Pantoro is probably de-risked somewhat now that they are producing gold at Norseman, despite what happens up at Halls Creek. However, they are a small producer with just two production centres, and probably soon to be just the one, and they only own half of Norseman. Probably the best comparison is GOR - Gold Road, who only own half of one gold producing mine (Gruyere), however Gruyere is a lot bigger than the Norseman gold project, and they've been producing there for a few years now. Also, GOR own a massive amount of land in that area, especially to the east of Gruyere, which is mostly desert but could easily contain more decent gold deposits. I do hold some GOR shares in my SMSF. They're a longer term play. I think they will either (a) get bought out by their JV partners (Gold Fields Ltd, listed on the JSE in South Africa) or (b) they'll make another decent discovery of their own. Of course the other possible outcome is (c) neither - they just keep on making money from Gruyere until the gold runs out and then they eventually get wound up if they don't buy something else first.

I have sold out of Pantoro because I have previously identified this time as being one of the riskier times to be a shareholder of a gold miner - when they are commissioning and ramping up a new mill, and ironing out any problems or bottlenecks they encounter. The share price spikes tend to come:

• When they make a decent discovery, especially if the gold grades are high, even better if it's close to surface and easy to get to and process., or
• When they get their finance sorted and are building a mill to process that ore to get at that gold, or
• When the mill is running at or above nameplate capacity and they are upgrading production guidance, or
• When they become the focus of M&A activity, i.e. someone wants to buy them out.

And of course if they keep finding more gold, that's always good too. And if they start paying dividends and then keep paying them, that can move them up into a new level of interest from the market as well and give their SP some support.

But those periods in-between those milestones I mention there above tend to be times when the share price tends to head south east rather than north east, until the next milestone is achieved and they get a little rocket under the SP again. The underlying gold price will of course make a huge difference as well. If the gold price is rising strongly, people only seem to see the positives about gold miners, but when the gold price is falling, very little can prop up their falling share prices.

In the last little while, the A$ gold price hasn't been moving around too much, so we get to see that usual gold project development cycle with the associated share price spikes on positive announcements and the fall-backs in-between.

Apart from identifying this as a riskier period in which much can go wrong, I also sold Pantoro because I felt I was spreading my gold sector investments a little too thinly - so holding too many different companies, and having tried to work out a risk vs potential upside scenario for each of them, the ones I kept stacked up better (on paper at least) than Pantoro (PNR), Capricorn Metals (CMM), Emerald Resources (EMR) and Alkane Resources (ALK). I sold ALK a while back and the other three (from my real life portfolios) more recently. PNR and CMM are still in my Strawman.com virtual portfolio, for now, but not ALK or EMR (were previously, but not anymore). I prefer the larger more diversified gold producers, plus CAI and BGL as my two speculative project developers/emerging producers.

I still think Pantoro is OK, just not one of the best available options in my opinion at this point in time.

Yeah @Gprp , I tend to agree that sort of thing is probably an Orange light, or an orange flag. Not a red flag (or red light), but cause for caution. I don't mind companies prioritising ESG and embracing sustainability, but I want to see the evidence, or the actual progress rather than this sort of thing. I think they're trying to cast a wide net, we got gold, we got PGE, we got Lithium! And we're clean and green too! OK, good for you. But you're not one of the best options on the market for any one of those things right now, in my opinion.

14-Oct-2022: First gold poured at the Norseman Gold Project

Disclosure: I did hold Pantoro (PNR) shares, but sold them earlier this month for reasons I disclosed at the time (to consolidate the number of individual exposures I have to gold).

PNR closed at $0.175 today (Tues 18th October 2022), being lower than where they closed on each of the five trading days last week (a range of 18c to 19c/share), so pouring first gold is not a milestone that causes a share price spike generally speaking. What will be more important is how quickly they can ramp up their plant to nameplate production, and what issues they encounter along the way.

23-Nov-2020:  Further High Grade Results from the Sailfish Prospect

Pantoro Limited (ASX:PNR) is pleased to advise further high-grade results from a short four hole follow up drilling program on the Sailfish prospect on Lake Cowan at the Norseman Gold Project (PNR 50%). Three out of the four holes drilled returned significant intercepts including:

• 1.6 m @ 61.78 g/t Au from 98.5 m downhole inc. 0.33 m @ 234.14 g/t Au (including 0.4 m of core loss calculated at 0 g/t Au).
• 0.65 m @ 38.66 g/t Au from 88.9 m downhole.
• 0.8 m @ 9.88 g/t Au from 93.0 m downhole.

The follow-up program was undertaken after the first eight hole program returned high grade intercepts including:

• 8.1 m @ 67.29 g/t Au from 78.6 m downhole inc. 0.7 m @ 521 g/t and 0.25 m @ 252 g/t Au ( including 3.6 m of core loss calculated at 0 g/t Au).
• 3.5 m @ 2.56 g/t Au from 64 m downhole inc. 0.3 m @ 26.2 g/t Au ( including 1.6 m of core loss calculated at 0 g/t Au).
• 1.8 m @ 4.25 g/t Au inc 0.95 m @ 7.71 g/t Au from 171.45 m downhole.

Refer to ASX release on 21 July 2020 titled ‘Very High Grade Mineralisation Encountered on Lake Cowan’.

Based on the current drilling, Sailfish reef appears to be a shallow SE dipping lode system with hanging wall and footwall ore zones oriented similarly to the high grade HV1 vein at the Harlequin mine to the South. The new results have provided sufficient additional data for Pantoro to undertake a more substantial program to further refine understanding of deposit geometry, structural and lithological controls. The expanded program is planned to commence during November 2020.

--- click on link at the top for the full announcement, including photos and graphics/diagrams ---

[I hold PNR shares.]

04-Nov-2020:  New High Grade Lodes Defined at Wagtail

Pantoro Limited (ASX:PNR) is pleased to advise that further drilling and initial level development have confirmed the presence and continuity of two additional high grade lodes at the Wagtail Underground Mine at the Halls Creek Project. Both lodes extend the mineralisation at the Wagtail Underground Mine and are located in the hanging wall of the current Rowdies ore system.

Key Highlights

• Development and drilling have defined a North East oriented splay lode (REV Lode) developing off of the current Rowdies lodes. The new REV Lode currently has a strike length of 50 metres and vertical extent of 100 metres. The lode remains open at depth and drilling is on going.
• The REV Lode interacts with the newly discovered high grade North Striking Lode in the hanging wall.
• The sulphide rich REV Lode appears to be a direct analogue to the Mother/Darcy lodes at Nicolsons, where significant upside was realised in the early stages of the projects development.

Recent drilling results from the REV lode have returned outstanding high grade intersections including:

• 18.05 m @ 38.99 g/t Au (drilled down dip and through intersection of REV and new North Striking Lode).
• 14.95 m @ 14.7g/t Au (drilled down dip and through intersection of REV and existing Rowdies Lode).
• 3.59 m @ 82.40 g/t Au.
• 2.65 m @ 15.57 g/t Au.
• 2.30 m @ 9.40 g/t Au.
• 0.45 m @ 64 g/t Au.
• 0.88 m @ 46.50 g/t Au.

Commenting on the Results Pantoro Managing Director Paul Cmrlec said:

“The discovery of these new lodes is great news for the Wagtail mine, and for the Halls Creek Project as a whole. The splay lodes at Nicolsons provided significant value to Nicolsons mine, and this discovery has the potential to provide the same upside at Wagtail.

The deepest drilling in the lode has returned some of the most exciting results to date, and the team at Halls Creek eagerly awaits the development of additional drilling platforms to enable the full drill out of this lode.

In addition to REV Lode extensions, we continue to test the existing lodes outside of the current Mineral Resource envelope and look forward to reporting extensions to mineralisation which may further increase the mines life.”

--- click on link above for the full announcement ---

[I hold PNR shares.]

Also, recently:  29-Oct-2020:  Big Gold Hits at Green Lantern including 41 m @ 1.91 g/t Au

29-Oct-2020:  Big Gold Hits at Green Lantern including 41 m @ 1.91 g/t Au

Pantoro Limited (ASX:PNR) is pleased to advise that ongoing drilling at its recent Green Lantern discovery continues to confirm wide high grade gold zones over a substantial strike length. Green Lantern lies within the Scotia Mining Centre at the Norseman Gold Project (PNR 50%). Green Lantern was not included in the Phase One Feasibility study mine plan or Mineral Resource which was released on 12 October 2020, presenting immediate upside for the project.

Key Highlights

• Substantial near surface mineralisation now identified over a strike length of approximately 400 metres at Green Lantern. Mineralisation remains open to the north and down dip.
• Drilling has confirmed and extended wide ore grade intersections. The Green Lantern mineralisation appears to be an extension of the Lady Eleanor shear system which provides a combined strike of approximately 800 metres outside of the Phase One open pit design at Scotia.
• Drilling indicates multiple lode structures, with a wide, lower grade stockwork system and higher grade zones typical of other orebodies known within the mining centre.

New results include:

• Green Lantern Wide Zone 
  • 41 m @ 1.91 g/t Au inc. 26m @ 2.39 g/t Au. 
  • 29 m @ 2.53 g/t Au inc. 13m @ 3.37 g/t Au. 
  • 23 m @ 1.40 g/t Au inc. 9m @ 2.15 g/t Au. 
  • 12 m @ 3.54 g/t Au. 
  • 13 m @ 2.40 g/t Au.
  • 12 m @ 2.27 g/t Au.
  • 6 m @ 3.78 g/t Au.
  • 7 m @ 2.34 g/t Au.
  • 10 m @ 1.15 g/t Au.
• Green Lantern High Grade Zones
  • 2 m @ 14.85 g/t Au.
  • 2 m @ 20.59 g/t Au.
  • 2 m @ 8.30 g/t Au.
  • 2 m @ 4.76 g/t Au.

Pantoro currently has five drill rigs operating at the Scotia Mining Centre focussed on extension of Green Lantern and Lady Eleanor mineralisation, depth extension of the Scotia Orebody, additional exploration and sterilisation works within the planned waste dump footprint.

Commenting on the Results Pantoro Managing Director Paul Cmrlec said:

“The Phase One DFS demonstrated the importance of Scotia in the revised mine plan. The new discovery to the south east of the current open pit design has real potential to double the size of planned open pits, and the wide ore zones now identified add an exciting dimension to the project.

Drilling at Scotia will continue as a priority, and additional programs are also commencing on the historic Mainfield during the coming week. Pantoro has a clear strategy to double the ounces in the Phase One mine plan at Norseman during the next twelve to eighteen months and these results provide a fantastic start to meeting that objective.”

About Green Lantern:

Green Lantern lies approximately 270 metres to the South East of the existing Scotia Pit, and is open at depth and along strike to the North. The current drilling program has continued to define multiple lodes which remain open up and down dip and along strike.

--- That was just the first page of the announcement - and the first paragraph from page 2 - and the full announcement is 16 pages long ---

[I hold PNR shares.]

25-Sep-2020:  Halls Creek Project Mineral Resource & Ore Reserve Update

Growth at Wagtail underpins mine life at Halls Creek

Pantoro Limited (ASX:PNR) is pleased to provide its annual Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve statement for the Halls Creek Project as at 31 May 2020.

Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves for the Norseman Gold Project will be reported separately in a release to the ASX as part of the Definitive Feasibility Study currently being finalised.

Key Highlights

• The total Halls Creek Project Mineral Resource now stands at 1,602,000 tonnes @ 6.6 g/t for 339,000 ounces, maintaining the inventory in line with the previous year’s result after mining depletion.
• The total Halls Creek Project Ore Reserve now stands at 1,023,000 tonnes @ 4.6 g/t for 150,000 ounces.
• Underground Ore Reserves of 111,000 ounces maintains the rolling three year underground Ore Reserve life that the project has maintained since the first development in 2015.
• Outstanding growth at Wagtail resulting from high grade infill and extension drilling with results including:
  • Rowdies Lode
    • 5.35m @ 13.97 g/t Au.
    • 4.30 m @ 16.40 g/t Au.
    • 4.26 m @ 15.90 g/t Au.
    • 3.30 m @ 17.80 g/t Au.
    • 2.80 m @ 18.10 g/t Au.
  • New Splay – REV
    • 6.00 m @ 20.24 g/t Au.
    • 3.23 m @ 12.76 g/t Au.
    • 2.05 m @ 13.27 g/t Au.
    • 0.4 m @ 101 g/t Au.
    • 2.28 m @ 11.74 g/t Au.
  • Wagtail North Lode
    • 2.52 m @ 12.30 g/t Au.
    • 1.50 m @ 10.41 g/t Au.
    • 1.30 m @ 20.30 g/t Au.
• The Wagtail Ore Reserve has been extended to 260 metres below surface, with the Inferred Mineral Resource extending to approximately 300 metres below surface. Drilling programs are ongoing to continue the extension of the resource down plunge.

Commenting on the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve upgrade, Managing Director Paul Cmrlec said:

“The Nicolsons project at Halls Creek continues to produce real cashflows which rival many much larger operations throughout the industry. Pantoro will continue to focus on maximising cashflow from Halls Creek to support the company’s growth plans as a priority above all else.

Halls Creek has been a great area for Pantoro since we first developed Nicolsons mine in 2015. Over the five years of operation, Ore Reserves inclusive of mine depletion have grown by over 400%, and this latest update sets the scene for continued growth into the future."

[I hold PNR shares.  What I like about them is that they have the revenue from gold production up at Halls Creek while they have the upside from the gold project development down at Norseman.]

03-Sep-2020:  OK Mine Drilling Program Complete with High Grade Results

Pantoro Limited (ASX:PNR) is pleased to provide a further update on results from its maiden underground drilling program at the high grade OK Underground Mine at the Norseman Gold Project (PNR 50%).

Key Highlights

The diamond drilling program at the OK Underground Mine has now been completed, with approximately 14,000 metres drilled. The objective of the program was to extend the depth of defined mineralisation in the O2 lode below the 22 Level, and to infill the Star of Erin Lode mineralisation.

Star of Erin Lode – Drilling in the Star of Erin Lode in the upper areas of the mine has returned a number of wide, high grade results, confirming a second ore zone immediately available for mining at OK. New results include:

• 3.35 m @ 29.84 g/t Au.
• 2.4 m @ 14.58 g/t Au.
• 2.05 m @ 19.23 g/t Au.
• 0.55 m @ 22.6 g/t Au.
• 1.1 m @ 17.12 g/t Au.
• 3.2 m @ 6.3 g/t Au including 1.1 m @ 16.33 g/t Au.
• 1.3 m @ 6.45 g/t Au.
• 0.35 m @ 31.90 g/t Au.

O2 Lode – New drill results from the O2 Lode have been received in addition to the high grade results previously reported. New results include:

• 5.7 m @ 27.18 g/t Au including 1 m @ 57.6 g/t Au and 1.5 m @ 61.13 g/t Au.
• 1.9 m @ 6.72 g/t Au.
• 3.8 m @ 6.02 g/t Au.
• 0.5 m @ 18.30 g/t Au.
• 1.7 m @ 6.58 g/t Au including 0.7 m @ 14.58 g/t Au.

Commenting on the results, Managing Director Paul Cmrlec said: “The results from the Star of Erin Lode at the OK Underground Mine have confirmed consistent high grades which give us confidence that the mine will have at least two primary ore sources from commencement of operations. The revised Mineral Resource Estimate and Ore Reserve calculation are being prepared for release with the Definitive Feasibility Study for the Norseman Gold Project which is nearing completion. The OK Underground Mine is yet another example of the high quality projects available for near term recommencement of production at Norseman.”

--- click on link above for more ---

[I hold PNR shares.]

29-7-2020:  Excellent Initial Results from Maybell Mining Centre

Pantoro Limited (ASX:PNR) has recently commenced drilling at the Maybell Mining Centre, the last of the identified phase one start up mining targets.

Initial Results from shallow drilling have been received from the Lord Percy Deposit which is located to the northeast of the main Maybell Deposit on a converging structure.

Results to date are extremely encouraging, highlighting a shallow high-grade lode system. Intercepts from surface to 60 metres depth include:

• 4 m @ 13.58 g/t Au (gold).
• 1.10 m @ 13.40 g/t Au.
• 2 m @ 9.13 g/t Au.
• 1.70 m @ 9.48 g/t Au.
• 4 m @ 4.56 g/t Au.
• 3 m @ 4.40 g/t Au.
• 4 m @ 7.20 g/t Au.
• 3 m @ 3.56 g/t Au.
• 4 m @ 2.61 g/t Au.

The Lord Percy Deposit has limited historical drilling completed on a wide spacing, informing the current Inferred Mineral Resource. Initial drilling has confirmed a shallow dipping parallel lode system, centred around the much smaller historic workings next to the main historic Maybell Deposit.

Pantoro Managing Director Paul Cmrlec said:

“The Maybell Mining Centre is the last of the phase one targets for inclusion in Pantoro’s near term mining plan. Results returned to date from Lord Percy have again met our expectations, highlighting a significant near surface mineralised system for inclusion in our open pit optimisation process.

Commencement of drilling in this area was delayed due to obtaining statutory approvals during the COVID-19 pandemic, however all required approvals have now been received.

Drilling is ongoing at both the Lord Percy and Maybell deposits. The initial focus is to complete the work required for inclusion in the detailed feasibility study which is progressing well.

Both deposits have excellent potential for depth extensions beyond the open pits and additional drilling will be undertaken in due course.”

--- click on link above for the full announcement ---

[I hold PNR shares]

22-June-2020:  Investor Update & Progress Presentation

Market like!  PNR up +11.9% today on the back of this update and presentation.  Since their 6.9 cps low on March 23, PNR have risen +240% in 3 months to close at 23.5 cps today.  [I hold PNR shares].

16-June-2020:  High Grade Results Continue from OK Underground Mine

I hold PNR Shares.  Overnight (during Monday in the US) gold threatened to fall below US$1700 an ounce in a volatile session.  The US dollar rallied early, which saw gold futures drop as low as $1705/oz.  The price has since recovered back to $1733/oz, only a few dollars lower than this time yesterday, after the Federal Reserve announced it would start buying corporate bonds.  US stocks were also volatile, opening lower but finishing 0.8% higher after the Fed announcement.  Our market is set to start on a positive note today after a couple of days of falls.

09-June-2020:  Exceptional Results Confirm Scotia as Key Mining Centre

Pantoro Limited (ASX:PNR) is pleased to provide additional drill results from Scotia. These results confirm the significance of Scotia, which will be a key mining centre within Pantoro’s planned restart of operations at the Norseman Gold Project (Pantoro 50%).

The prospectivity of the Scotia Mining Centre has recently been demonstrated by the discovery of the Panda Lode by Pantoro (see ASX Announcement entitled ‘New Discovery Confirmed at Panda’ dated 21 May 2020).

Key Highlights

• Drilling at Scotia has returned a number of high grade intersections from both outside and inside the current Mineral Resource envelope.
• Infill drilling around the historic underground workings has delineated extensive additional mineralisation which is not included within the current Mineral Resource Estimate.
• Recent Panda discovery further enhances the open pit potential of the area.
• Deeper drilling at Scotia confirms potential for high grade underground mines following the initial open pit phase.

New results from drilling which has been focused on the likely open pit footprint include:

• 10 m @ 11.60 g/t Au  
• 9 m @ 12.98 g/t Au
• 11 m @ 6.27 g/t Au  
• 4 m @ 11.54 g/t Au
• 1 m @ 59.2 g/t Au  
• 4 m @ 9.94 g/t Au
• 2 m @ 8.70 g/t Au  
• 7 m @ 4.59 g/t Au    
• 8 m @ 3.45 g/t Au  
• 4 m @ 5.21 g/t Au  
• 5 m @ 4.87 g/t Au  
• 7 m @ 4.97 g/t Au
• 1.2 m @ 30.64 g/t Au
• 2 m @ 7.08 g/t Au

Commenting on the Results Pantoro Managing Director Paul Cmrlec said “The Scotia Mining Centre is shaping up as a very important long term ore source at Norseman. The new Panda discovery has confirmed potential for ongoing discovery in the area, and the multiple zones of high grade mineralisation occurrences suggest that Scotia may ultimately be considered a gold field in its own right. Scotia will continue to be a focus for exploration and resource development in the near term and is a key area for the restart of operations at Norseman.”

About the Scotia Mining Centre

The Scotia Mining Centre is located approximately 25 km south of Norseman and was discovered in 1893. The historic production recorded from the Scotia mine via open pit and underground mining was 811,000 tonnes @ 5.9 g/t Au for 155,000 ounces. Scotia was actively mined from 1987 until 1996.

Scotia The Scotia deposit is currently the largest deposit within the Scotia Mining Centre, and drilling has been focussed on infill and extension of the known mineralisation The current Mineral Resource at Scotia is estimated to contain 1.89 Mt @ 6.28 g/t Au for 382,000 ounces (refer to Appendix 2 and ASX Announcement entitled ‘Strategic Transaction and Capital Raising Presentation’, dated 15 May 2019).

The latest drilling at Scotia continues to  return excellent results and reinforces the importance of the Scotia Resource as part of the planned restart of operations at Norseman. 

--- click on the link above for the rest of this announcement ---

Disclosure:  I hold PNR shares.

21-May-2020:  New Gold Discovery Confirmed at Panda

23-Apr-2020:  Princess Royal/Slippers Drilling Confirms Multiple Ore Zones

Up to 20.37 grams per tonne Gold.  Nice!!  I hold PNR shares.  The NGP is shaping up nicely.

15-Apr-2020:  Quarterly Report & Appendix 5B

I have a small position in PNR.  Good drilling results at Wagtail - up to 23.9g/t Au (gold).  Pantoro has maintained its strong balance sheet with a cash and gold balance of $27.4 million at March 31;  they remain debt free.  They are well positioned to fund activities at Norseman as the company becomes unhedged at the end of April.  During the March quarter the impact of hedging was approximately the same as exploration expenditure at Norseman.  Once unhedged, Pantoro is well positioned to take full advantage of the current high gold price. 

27-Mar-2020:  COVID-19 Operating Update

Business as usual so far for Pantoro, except that instead of FIFO at Halls Creek, they've arranged local accomodation for their workforce, with the extra costs being partially offset by the savings realised by not having to pay for any flights.

20-Feb-2020:  Pantoro (PNR): RIU Explorers Conference Presentation - February 2020

I do have a small holding in PNR - they are not only explorers and developers, but they are also already gold producers at Halls Creek (100% PNR), and are now developing their 50%-owned Norseman Gold Project (NGP).  Slide 6 shows that they have some of the highest grades of both underground mineral resources and surface (open pit-able) mineral resources of any Australian gold producer, including the big ones.  As long as the geology is friendly and the processing is relatively straightforward, high grades generally translate into lower costs, which means higher profits, so it bodes well for their future.  However, they are very small, so still much higher risk than the bigger companies who have years of production already under their belts.  For that reason, my PNR holding is a lot smaller than my holdings in NST, EVN, SAR and/or SBM.  However, for those with a higher risk appetite, PNR might be worth keeping an eye on.

12-Nov-2019:  Norseman Processing Plant Options Review Outcomes

12-Nov-2019:  Investor Presentation - November 2019