Pan Asia Metals Limited ("Pan Asia") is pleased to report recent progress made at its KT East Lithium Prospect, part of the RK Lithium Project in Southern Thailand. The latest fieldwork has significantly expanded the lithium anomalous zone, with soil sampling revealing a large pegmatite field that exhibits promising geometry for potential open-pit mining.
Highlights:
- Expansion of Anomalous Zone: Soil sampling has increased the scale of the lithium anomalous zone at KT East. The pegmatite field now covers approximately 2.1 km in length and 1.5 km in width, representing a substantial exploration zone.
- Favorable Geometry: The pegmatite dykes at KT East are stacked and dip moderately northwest. This geometry is considered highly amenable to open-pit mining with a low strip ratio.
- Main Zone Identified: Within the broader pegmatite field, a coherent Main Zone has been identified, measuring approximately 2.0 km in length and up to 500 m in width. This zone contains numerous mapped lepidolite pegmatite sub-zones, posing further potential.
- Next Steps: PAM is planning additional soil and rock-chip sampling in areas where anomalies remain open, particularly in the northwest. The Company is also considering a trenching program, which may serve as access in preparation for drilling, which is scheduled for later this year.
Paul Lock, Managing Director of Pan Asia Metals, commented: “The results from this follow up soil program reinforce KT East’s potential to add substantial LCE tonnes to the RK Lithium Project. The pegmatite field has a strike length of approx. 2.1 km and width of up to 1.5 km, and within this is the ‘Main Zone’ of approximately 2.0 km in length and up to 500 m in width, which in turn contains numerous mapped lepidolite pegmatites zones. The overall geometry suggests the project will be amenable to open pit mining with potentially very low strip ratios. This, in combination with the Project’s low cost environment, should see a low cost hard rock mining project. Further sampling and mapping in areas where anomalism remains open is planned and may be followed by a trenching program. We will also test the areas where large scale historic surface mining for tin has been undertaken. Although there is more soil and rock chip sampling to do, KT East is essentially drill ready.”
Soil and Rock-Chip Sampling Results:
The ongoing soil sampling program has yielded 329 new samples, which when combined with previous rock-chip samples, confirm the presence of a large pegmatite field at KT East.
The robust correlation between rubidium (Rb) and lithium oxide (Li2O) from hand-held XRF analysis has been instrumental in identifying these zones, further supported by the presence of lepidolite pegmatites.
Moving Forward:
PAM will continue to focus on expanding the footprint for exploration at KT East, with plans to conduct more detailed mapping and sampling in the Main Zone area. Additionally, reconnaissance sampling is planned at KT East NW, where historic surface mining for tin has been identified alongside anomalous Rb and Li2O results.