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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
Beneficiation Delivers 4,480ppm Lithium Clay Concentrate at Red Mountain Project, USA
Key Highlights
- Follow-up Falcon C beneficiation testwork completed on diamond drill core samples from the Red Mountain Project.
- Sample upgraded from 3,245ppm to 4,481ppm Lithium.
- Successful removal of 51.8% of dense material and concurrent 38% increase in lithium grade.
- Reinforces the April 2025 results indicating that Red Mountain mineralisation may be upgraded using beneficiation.
- Attrition Scrubbing beneficiation testwork now underway for comparison with the Falcon testwork results.
- Leaching testwork to be undertaken on Falcon and Attrition Scrubbing products to confirm reduced acid consumptions.
Following on from the results announced on 22 April 2025, this second phase of Falcon Beneficiation testwork was designed to concentrate lithium-bearing clay and remove unmineralized gangue (waste) in order to decrease mass and increase lithium grade. In a mineral processing context, a reduction in tonnes and volume processed with an increased head-grade typically results in lower processing costs.
This second Falcon testwork program was conducted by Sepro Laboratories (Sepro) and utilised high- clay drill core samples from hole RMDD002 (which intersected 86.9m @ 1,470ppm Li from 18.3m4). This follow-up test was designed to establish how high-clay material performed using the Falcon method, for comparison with results from the previous test conducted on lower grade mineralisation from Red Mountain.
The latest result indicates a strong ability to upgrade mineralisation, achieving a reduction of sample mass by 51.8% with a concurrent increase in lithium grade of 38% (from 3,245 to 4,481ppm Li), with an overall 66.6% lithium recovery. These results compare favourably with the previous round of testwork, exhibiting both a greater upgrade in lithium and reduction in mass, with a substantial 43% reduction in calcium and carbon (interpreted as calcite removal) expected to result in a significant reduction in acid consumption. The Company has commissioned Attrition Scrubbing testwork – another method of beneficiation – for comparison with the Falcon results. Once complete, sample products from both the Falcon and Attrition Scrubbing tests will be assessed for acid consumption in future leachability tests.
Astute Chairman, Tony Leibowitz, said:“The demonstration of a commercial pathway to a lithium product is the natural complement to the establishment of a Mineral Resource. It is for this reason that Astute has actively advanced workflows for both exploration drilling and metallurgical testing at Red Mountain, in tandem. These positive results, which reinforce the previous results from the project, represent the systematic de-risking of what continues to emerge as an important US- based critical metals project.”
Figure 1. Clay-rich RMDD002 drill-core from 160-165ft (3,280ppm Li) used in Falcon beneficiation testwork.
Background
Located in central-eastern Nevada (Figure 4), adjacent to the Grand Army of the Republic Highway (Route 6), which links the regional mining towns of Ely and Tonopah, the Red Mountain Project was staked by Astute in August 2023.
The Project area has broad mapped tertiary lacustrine (lake) sedimentary rocks known locally as the Horse Camp Formation1. Elsewhere in the state of Nevada, equivalent rocks host large lithium deposits (see Figure 4) such as Lithium Americas’ (NYSE: LAC) 62.1Mt LCE Thacker Pass Project2 and American Lithium (TSX.V: LI) 9.79Mt LCE TLC Lithium Project3.
Astute has completed substantial surface sampling campaigns at Red Mountain, which indicate widespread lithium anomalism in soils (Figure 3) and confirmed lithium mineralisation in bedrock with some exceptional grades of up to 4,150ppm Li1,5.
A total of 19 RC and diamond drill holes have been drilled at the project to date for a combined 3,666m. Exploration drilling has been highly successful, with strong lithium mineralisation intersected in every hole for which assays have been received9.
Scoping leachability testwork on mineralised material from Red Mountain indicates high leachability of lithium of up to 98%, varying with temperature, acid strength and leaching duration, and proof-of- concept beneficiation testwork has indicated the potential to upgrade the Red Mountain mineralisation6,8.
About Beneficiation
The primary purpose of beneficiation is to optimise the value of mineralised material by separating unwanted waste material (gangue) from valuable minerals.
Testwork conducted to date at Red Mountain indicates that clay-hosted lithium mineralisation may be upgraded through beneficiation, which seeks to remove coarser grained material, such as particles of sand, that do not contain appreciable lithium8. Successful beneficiation can result in reduced reagent consumption, reduced plant wear and tear, and a reduced environmental footprint.
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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.
Pursuit Dispatchs 99.5% Lithium Carbonate Samples to Potential Strategic Partners as Feasibility Studies Progress
HIGHLIGHTS
- Final product assays confirm 99.5% lithium carbonate purity, upgraded from pilot output via bench scale processing.
- Certified samples dispatched to multiple potential offtake and strategic partners for qualification.
- Feasibility study progressing for low cost, 5,000tpa operation at Rio Grande Sur.
- Ongoing small batch lithium carbonate production to support offtake qualification while preserving capital discipline in current market conditions.
- Pursuit continues to advance its dual-pronged growth strategy progressing Rio Grande Sur while accelerating the evaluation of strategic gold, silver, and copper acquisitions in Argentina.
Figure 1 – Pursuit’s 99.5% Li₂CO₃ Sample Ready for Dispatch to Potential Offtake Partners
In relation to the dispatch of samples, Pursuit Managing Director & CEO, Aaron Revelle, said:
“Achieving 99.5% lithium carbonate purity is a major technical milestone for Pursuit and a clear demonstration of the capability embedded within our flowsheet, team, and pilot plant infrastructure. It not only validates the compatibility of our process design with Rio Grande Sur brines but also confirms our ability to deliver a consistently high-quality product suited to a wide range of industrial and energy storage applications. Dispatching these samples to potential offtake partners is a critical first step in our commercialisation pathway, enabling product qualification and accelerating engagement with strategic customers in tough market conditions. As we transition into the next phase of development, our focus is firmly on advancing feasibility for our 5,000tpa operation and securing long-term partnerships that will underpin the future production and growth of the Rio Grande Sur Project.”
Initial pilot production at Pursuit’s 250tpa Pilot Plant in Salta successfully produced 15 kilograms of lithium carbonate at 98.9% purity, validating both the compatibility of the Rio Grande Sur brine and the efficiency of the Company’s conventional processing flowsheet. To enhance product quality and simulate potential refinement steps at commercial scale, a portion of this material was further treated at bench scale using fractional crystallisation (FX) and ion exchange (IX) techniques. These post processing steps upgraded the product to 99.5% purity, meeting established benchmarks for technical-grade lithium carbonate.
The final product assays confirm not only the effectiveness of Pursuit’s downstream purification strategy but also the scalability and robustness of its broader flowsheet. This achievement represents a critical milestone on the path to commercial readiness supporting key feasibility assumptions, validating end product quality, and enabling active engagement with prospective offtake partners.
Pursuit is well positioned to undertake additional small-batch production as required to meet partner qualification needs and advance strategic discussions. Furthermore, it demonstrates Pursuit’s capability to produce high-purity lithium carbonate suitable for industrial use, with potential to meet battery-grade specifications through additional refinement.
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This article includes content from Pursuit Minerals, 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.