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Pegmatites grow at Pan Asia lithium-tin play in Thailand

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Matt BirneySponsored
Diamond drilling in Thailand.
Camera IconDiamond drilling in Thailand. Credit: File

ASX-listed Pan Asia Metals has now completed 34 diamond drill holes for a total of 4856 metres at its rapidly developing Reung Kiet lithium/tin project in Thailand. All drill holes so far have returned zones of lithium mineralisation associated with lepidolite-rich pegmatite dykes and veins in altered siltstone.

Importantly, the recent drill holes have increased the known thickness of the individual pegmatites at the project to over 30m, with composite thicknesses over 70m in some sectors. Interestingly, the tin oxide mineral, cassiterite, is disseminated widely in the recovered core sections and in situ geochemical analyses by a portable XRF machine also indicates elevated tin levels. Full assays are still pending, however portable XRF analyses indicate elevated lithium “pathfinder” elements of rubidium, caesium and manganese in much of the pegmatite. Lithium itself cannot be measured by this technique as it is too atomically light, however the presence of minerals that are generally found with lithium is positive.

Significantly, the drill results confirm the entire pegmatite swarm is up to 100m wide and contains abundant pegmatite veins and dykes up to an impressive 31m wide. New results from one hole indicate a significant thickening of the pegmatites extending down-dip of the intersections in a prior hole. Pan Asia believes this indicates a coalescing of separate dykes into larger individual dykes and potentially an overall thickening of the pegmatites at depth.

Pan Asia’s wholly owned Reung Kiet lithium project is one of the company’s key assets. The project tenure covers around 40 square kilometres about 70 km north-east of Phuket in the Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand. Pegmatites have intruded in a siltstone host rock and lithium is hosted in purple lepidolite mica within the coarse-grained pegmatites. Other elements which add significant value to the project include tin and tantalum as well as some rare earths.

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The pegmatite dykes and veins currently define a strike length of over 1km and remain open in all directions. The Reung Kiet pegmatite trend is divided into two main parts, Reung Kiet North and Reung Kiet South, each about 500m long. Reung Kiet North includes a relatively large, historic open cut tin mine that was worked in the early 1970s, with tin extracted from the weathered pegmatites. Reung Kiet South extends along strike to the southeast and encompasses a prominent knoll.

Pan Asia began diamond drilling in March this year targeting lithium mineralisation below the open cut at Reung Kiet North, where the pegmatite dykes and veins dip at 65-70 degrees to the south-east. The main dyke intersected in drilling beneath the pit can be up to 30m wide, however narrower dykes and veins also occur, particularly to the east.

At Reung Kiet South the pegmatites form a swarm that dips at angles of 65 to 30 degrees. The pegmatite dykes and veins at Reung Kiet South are typically narrow but more numerous when compared to Reung Kiet North. However, recent results from one of the latest drill holes indicate a thickening of pegmatite dykes at depth.

Along the whole trend from west to east the pegmatite swarm is up 100m wide and may taper slightly to the northeast according to the company. Pan Asia says the whole kilometre long trend remains open to the north, south and down dip on many sections. Additional infill and extensional drilling is currently being undertaken with drill spacings designed with the aim of estimating a resource.

In preparation for a scoping study due to be delivered early next year, the company is also measuring and reporting caesium, potassium, rubidium, tin and tantalum which could gift potentially valuable by-products.

The assay results from previous drill holes had lithium oxide grades going up to a seriously good 2.09 per cent and caesium grades at just under 1,000 parts per million. The rubidium credits clocked in at 0.63 per cent, tin up to 1,408 parts per million and tantalum oxide up to 490 parts per million. Pan

We are looking forward to receiving the assays, particularly so with the large intersections of visible cassiterite in hole RKDD034. The prospective zone at the Reung Kiet Prospect, which is at least 1km long, is now supported by drilling results along the whole trend and the lithium mineralisation remains open to the north and south and at depth on many sections. Our drilling success in conjunction with our recent capital raise led to our decision to target an increased Mineral Resource to supply a 10,000 tonne per annum lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate plant for 10 plus years. This is double our earlier target

Pan Asia Metals Managing Director, Paul Lock

Pan Asia has further drill holes planned at both the Reung Kiet and Bang I Tum lithium prospects and the company says more metres are being drilled to deliver a larger inaugural mineral resource to support a broader scoping study to be delivered in early 2022.

The company is focusing on lepidolite as a source of lithium with the cost of extracting lithium from this mineral at the lower end of the cost curve. Lepidolite has also been demonstrated to have a lower carbon emission intensity than other lithium sources. The proximity of the Reung Kiet project to installed hydroelectric power and expected short transport routes may result in reducing the project’s carbon footprint even further.

Pan Asia appears to be successfully surfing the lithium wave as it continues to make enviable inroads at its Reung Kiet and Kata Thong projects in Thailand. Next year promises to be interesting for this junior specialty metals explorer.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au

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