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Battery and critical metals explorer and developer Pan Asia Metals Limited (ASX: PAM) (‘PAM’ or ‘the Company’) is pleased to report an exploration update for the Pink, Pozon, Dolores South and Dolores North Lithium Prospects situated in the Tarapaca region of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, with a primary focus on the Pink Lithium Prospect. The review and this exploration update relates to historic seismic surveying undertaken in the 1960’s and shallow groundwater drilling undertaken in the early 1990s’. The target lithium in brine zone at the Pink Lithium Prospect has been re-defined, with overlapping areas of elevated Li and chlorine (Cl), an indicator of salty water/brine, interpreted at >500km2, while the total target lithium in brine zone at the Pink, Pozon and Dolores South and North Lithium Prospects is interpreted at ~1,000km2.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Data review yields positive results
- Review focuses on Pink, Pozon and Dolores Li in Brine Prospects
- Primary focus on Pink Lithium Prospect, with preliminary drill targets defined
- Seismic results confirm deep basin sediments, approximately 400-600m thick
- Historic groundwater investigations confirm shallow saline aquifers
- Saline groundwater zones correspond with highly elevated Li in surface salt crusts
- Target Li Brine area re-defined with elevated Li and chlorine (Cl) over ~1,000km2
- Results awaited for additional surface geochemical samples
- Geophysical exploration being planned
- Drill planning underway
Pan Asia Metals Managing Director said: “We are making great progress at the Tama Atacama Lithium Project.The historical seismic data at the Pink Lithium Prospect provides great insight. When overlayed with historic water drilling data, which identified an area of ~2,000km2 of elevated chlorine levels - a proxy for brine, and which corresponds with PAM’s surface assays, with ~65% at >100ppm Li, of which about half were >250ppm Li and about one quarter were >650ppm Li and up to 2,200ppm Li, we know we are in a good position. The data review confirms that PAM’s northern Li Brine prospects, being Pink to the south and Pozon, Dolores South and Dolores North to the north, cover an area of ~1,000km or 50% of the Li Brine target area. The Tama Atacama Lithium Project in Chile complements PAM’s initiatives in Southeast Asia, the latter being PAM’s pathway to earlier cash flow and the former PAM’s pathway to future growth, which will set PAM up to secure its position in the global lithium supply chain.”
Project Overview
Location and Access
The Pink Lithium Prospect (Pink) is located in the Tarapacá Region, in northern Chile. The project area is part of the larger Pampa del Tamarugal Basin (PT Basin) where PAM holds approximately 1,600km2 of granted concessions or concession applications. The project area has excellent access to infrastructure with the energy grid and a major highway (Ruta 5) running through it. The nearest large city is Iquique, located about 75km by road to the west, on the coast (see Figure 1). The mining service town of Pozo Almonte is located immediately north of the project area.
Land Ownership and Tenure
The project area hosts a variety of land uses, in the north and east there is private residential land in and around several villages, small acreage land with ‘weekend homesteaders’, some military land, some Reserve land and some other public lands. The western and southern parts of the project area host an extensive zone of salt flats associated with Salar’s Pintados and Bellavista, which are essentially unpopulated.
Previous Mining and Exploration
Certain areas of the Salars in this region host historic borate, potassium and salt extraction, with many areas immediately west of the project area the host to historic nitrate mining. There is little record of any of these past mining activities.
Figure 1. Tama Atacama Lithium Project – Area of Data Review
Modern Exploration
More recent exploration, since 2016, has been conducted by Rajo in conjunction with ASX-listed Specialty Metals Limited (ASX:SEI). SEI were awarded 20 exploration concessions covering the southwestern parts of Salar de Pintados and northern parts of Salar Bellavista. From 2016-2018 Rajo/SEI collected 128 samples that now occur within or immediately adjacent to PAM’s granted concessions and concession applications. These samples are mostly from the near surface salt/gypsum crust with lesser samples of adjacent clay rich zones. Samples were taken along traverse lines using roads, tracks associated with powerlines, pipelines and the railway line. The samples were nominally collected at 1km spacings however, this does vary. The Rajo/SEI relationship concluded in 2019 and SEI exited Chile, with Rajo continuing to explore.
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This article includes content from Pan Asia Metals Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
PAM:AU
Red Mountain Lithium Discovery Bolstered with More Outstanding Thick Intersections
Key Highlights
- Multiple lithium intersections reported in assay results for the next four holes, RMRC004-007, with intersections up to +80m thickness, including:
- RMRC004: 83.8m @ 1,230ppm Li from 16.8m.
- RMRC005: 80.8m @ 1,270ppm Li from 56.4m
- RMRC006: 62.5m @ 1,070ppm Li from 6.1m and 70.1m @ 1,090ppm Li from 89.9m
- RMRC007: 74.7m @ 1,160ppm Li from 18.3m
- Intersections sit mid-project within 4.6km of strike length drilled to date at Red Mountain.
- Assay results for the remaining four drill holes expected in late July.
Assay results from the second batch of samples include the following drill intersections:
- RMRC004 : 13.7m @ 1,070ppm Li / 0.57% Lithium Carbonate Equivalent1 (LCE) from surface
- 83.8m @ 1,230ppm Li / 0.65% LCE from 16.8m
- RMRC005 : 26.0m @ 656ppm Li / 0.35% LCE from 3.0m
- 80.8m @ 1,270ppm Li / 0.68% LCE from 56.4m to End of Hole
- RMRC006 : 62.5m @ 1,070ppm Li / 0.57% LCE from 6.1m
- 15.3m @ 896ppm Li / 0.48% LCE from 71.6m 70.1m @ 1,090ppm Li / 0.58% LCE from 89.9m
- RMRC007 : 74.7m @ 1,160ppm Li / 0.61% LCE from 18.3m
- 25.9m @ 1,580ppm Li / 0.84% LCE from 115.8m
This second batch of assays, from drill holes located centrally within the group drilled so far (Figure 1), demonstrate thicker intersections than those previously announced, with all four holes intersecting +70m zones grading over 1,000ppm lithium. These outstanding results indicate the scale and grade potential at Red Mountain, as it continues to emerge as a project of significance in North America. Assays for the final four holes from the campaign are expected to be received later this month, which, along with other results, will allow the Company to determine the next steps at this highly prospective Project.
Astute Chairman, Tony Leibowitz, said:
“Our confidence in the scale and significance of this discovery continues to increase with each successful drill-hole at Red Mountain. Assays from the latest four holes have exceeded expectations and returned some very thick, high-grade intercepts which have confirmed robust lithium mineralisation in the middle of the project, between intersections from the discovery holes.
“With final assay results expected for the remaining four holes shortly, data from all holes will then be integrated into an updated geological model for Red Mountain with a view to expediting the process to achieving a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate.”
Figure 1. Drill-hole locations and intersections, and gridded soil sample geochemistry over aerial image.
About Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE)
Unlike spodumene concentrate, which is a feedstock for a value-added battery product, Lithium Carbonate is a principal lithium-ion battery product, which may be used directly in battery production or converted to other battery products such as lithium hydroxide. The Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Lithium Carbonate China Index priced lithium carbonate product at US$13,710/t6 as of 12 June 2024.
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This article includes content from Astute Metals NL, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Exploration Program Underway at Corvette River Lithium, Gold, Copper & Silver Project in Quebec
The Project consists of several claim areas, including Felicie on the Corvette Lithium Trend which hosts Patriot Battery Metals’ world-class Corvette Lithium Project2 and the West Eade and East Eade claims on the parallel Corvette South Trend, approximately 12 km to the south. Both trends are on the prolific Lac Guyer greenstone belt in the tier-one global mining jurisdiction of Quebec, Canada (see Figure 1).
Phase 1 of the program will investigate and prioritise zones across the extensive claims areas for further work and follow up drilling. The program will include extensive geological mapping, excavator trenching and channel sampling, for multi-element assaying, using a team of geologists, support staff, excavators and an air support team. Field logistics are supported by helicopters, including heavy lift helicopters, to move excavators, required equipment and personnel. The program is being phased, given the limited access to heavy lift helicopters during this period. The program is sequential, initially focussed in the Felicie area (see Figure 1), to be followed by the East Eade and then the West Eade claim areas.
The primary objectives of the program are to investigate identified target locations through field mapping of structures and outcrops, extensive excavator trenching and channel sampling to finalise planning positions and the priority of follow-on drill targets in the following project locations:
- Felicie Project – Field map, trench and sample structures and outcrops associated with previous rock chip sampling that included grades of up to 4.16 g/t Au, 44.1 g/t Ag and 0.23% Cu3 from a zone of 180m strike-length open in all direction.
- East Eade – Extensive investigation of an approximately 300m wide complex fold-closure, which included previous assays of up to 29.7 g/t Au and 12 g/t Au3 See photographs of East Eade below.
- West Eade – Further investigate areas around historical sample sites with assays of up to 11.45g/t Au3 and more recent rock chip sampling results including 3.37 g/t Au over 3m3.
- Lithium Targets – Follow up on Lithium bearing pegmatite targets that have been previously reported, including CR1 (mapped over 1.6 km4) at Felicie and CS15 at West Eade (see Figure 1)
Figure 1: MLS’s Corvette River Project – Felicie, East Eade & West Eade Phase 1 Field Exploration sites, includingtrenching target locations for key gold, Silver & lithium targets outlined with geology and magnetics
Metals Australia CEO Paul Ferguson commented:
“It’s pleasing to be under way with phase 1 of our field exploration program at Corvette River. The commencement of this program is a result of a lot of great work by our team and our contractor, Magnor Exploration. We have developed a detailed and prioritised exploration program targeting lithium as well as gold, silver and copper and put in place a contract to allow this important work to be completed during the summer field season, when ground truthing is possible in Quebec. Importantly the program phasing recognises the challenges associated with accessing heavy lift helicopters during the peak summer period.
We are now on the ground with a dedicated team of geologists and field staff, including excavators. The team will be able to follow up on the targets, associated structures and outcrops that have been identified from previous sampling. This will allow accurate positioning of trenching and channel sampling. The outcomes of this work will result in a well-defined and prioritised list of drill targets – which will be the subject of phase 2 of the program.
This program will follow up on the highly prospective lithium pegmatite targets as well as high-grade gold and silver target zones we have communicated previously. I look forward to communicating the results of phase 1 when they are available.
We continue to aggressively progress all our high-quality projects on their pathway through exploration and, when results warrant, into development. Four of our projects are now pending government approval for their next phase of exploration, including Lac Carheil, which also has active prefeasibility study work underway. It’s been an incredibly active period of planning, permit applications and work-program contracting. We are now seeing the field exploration stages starting to emerge – with Corvette River now fully permitted for advanced exploration target testing.
We are only able to advance this work because we have a very supportive board, a dedicated and driven team and the financial capacity to fund the programs we have planned. Currently, there is no value ascribed to our projects by the market and we have a market capitalisation well below cash backing, which is highly unusual. Given the high-quality pipeline of projects we are progressing and the opportunities they represent, I expect the balance of 2024 and beyond to represent exciting times for the Company.”
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This article includes content from Metals Australia Ltd, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
