Our Projects

The Reung Kiet Lithium Project (Reung Kiet) is a lepidolite-style lithium project located about 70km northeast of Phuket in the Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand. PAM holds a 100% interest in 3 contiguous Special Prospecting Licenses (SPL) and 1 Exclusive Prospecting License (EPL) covering about 40km².

The Reung Kiet project area was part of a major tin mining region up until the mid-1980s. Up to the late 1980 southern Thailand was a globally significant tin producer. In the Phang Nga Province from 1965 to 1990 recorded tin concentrate production was approximately 300,000 tonnes. Much of the tin production was derived from alluvial or offshore sources, however, there were some primary deposits being mined.

In the late 1960s a joint Thai/British Geological Survey study was undertaken in the region (Garson et al, 1969). It was during this study that the lithium-bearing mineral lepidolite was identified in weathered pegmatites that were being mined for tin at the Reung Kiet and Bang I Tum open pit mines as well as at other mines in close proximity. The 1960s study conducted geological mapping, geochemical analysis, and mineralogical descriptions of various tailings, concentrate, and rock samples as well as lepidolite beneficiation studies. The lepidolite was found to contain 3-4% Li2O. With a significant focus on two key tin mines, Reung Kiet and Bang I Tum, the survey stated:

the pegmatites at Reung Kiet and Bang I Tum may well be the largest un-zoned lepidolite pegmatites yet recorded; and
lepidolite is fairly evenly distributed both along the length of the pegmatite and from wall to wall. In places there is local enrichment of massive lepidolite

There has been little recorded exploration activity in the project area since the 1960’s study.

The Reung Kiet project comprises two key prospects, the Reung Kiet Lithium Prospect and the Bang I Tum Lithium Prospect:

The Reung Kiet Lithium Prospect (RK)
A relatively large open cut tin mine. The old pit is about 500m long and up to 125m wide. Mining of the weathered pegmatites extended up to 30m below surface, to the top of hard rock. Pan Asia Metals has identified a prospective zone at least 1km long, reporting an Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 10.4 million tonnes at 0.44% Li2O. Please refer to Pan Asia Metals ASX announcement, “Inaugural Mineral Resource Estimate Reung Kiet Lithium” dated June 28, 2022.

The Mineral Resource is based upon the first 46 holes drilled at Reung Kiet. Ongoing drilling has seen the completion of more than 55 additional holes (as at January 2023), most of which will be included in the Mineral Resource update which aims to increase the Mineral Resource tonnage and upgrade portions of the Mineral Resource from Inferred to Indicated and possibly Measured classification. The pegmatite swarms remain open to the north and south and at depth on many sections.

The Bang I Tum Lithium Prospect (BIT)
The Bang I Tum prospect was a relatively large open cut tin mine. The old pit is about 650m long and up to 125m wide. Mining of the weathered pegmatites extended to about 30m beloW surface, to top of hard rock. The mined pegmatite is recorded to be up to 25m wide (Garson, 1969).

The pit is now water filled, with water depths to a maximum 15m. Additional smaller scale mining extended further along strike to the southwest. Soil and rock-chip sampling has defined the Main trend and an Eastern trend.

The prospective Main trend is about 1.5km long. A lepidolite pegmatite dyke swarm can be observed on a hill about 400m south of the pit. This swarm is up to 100m wide with individual dykes up to 7m wide. The Eastern trend is about 1.5km long, located approximately 350m east of, and parallel to the Main trend.

Recent rock chip and channel sampling has yielded 44 of 64 samples with an average grade of 1.56% Li2O plus accessory tin and tantalum. 35 of these samples returning Li2O grades of >1.00% Li2O and averaging 1.80% Li2O. 12 of these samples were greater than 2.00% Li2O and the highest grade was 2.62% Li2O.

The Tama Atacama Lithium Project is a series of brine and clay lithium holdings located in the Atacama desert in Northern Chile.  Tama Atacama consists of 7 highly prospective lithium prospects covering a total area of ~1,600km² and spanning over 290km from south to north.  Tama Atacama’s strategic advantages include its altitude, at 800-1100m it is one of the lowest brine projects in the South American peer group, it has major road and energy infrastructure passing by or through all holdings, and it is located about 40-60km from the coast, and the city of Iquique is about 75km by road from the Pink Lithium Prospect. Iquique has a population of ~200,000 and a deep water port and commercial airport.

The Tama-Atacama Lithium Project areas (Projects) are hosted within the Pampa del Tamarugal Basin (PT Basin), a 12,500km2 sedimentary basin located in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The Projects exhibit strong potential for deeper lithium brines and shallow lithium clays.

The PT Basin is a major paleo-basin developed during the last 25 million years, as a consequence to uplift of the Domeyko or Pre Cordillera (western Andes) to the east, and the Coastal Cordillera to the west, which acted as a natural barrier for drainage emanating from the western Andes whereby intermittent, but larger amounts of precipitation relative to present has bought water and sediments via several large river valleys and progressively filled the basin. Thick sedimentary, local volcanic, and evaporite sequences developed until the Loa and Camarones rivers were able to commence draining this large paleo lake in the south and north respectively.

Prior to this draining, the PT Basin was characterized by a huge ephemeral lagoon of ponded Andean drainage which carried large amounts of sediments in a fluvial to the lacustrine environment present in the basin. Over time, the generally high background levels of lithium and associated elements in the groundwater sediments became further enriched via episodic evaporation under increasingly arid conditions. There may also be a hydrothermal water/lithium input from lithium-rich fluids migrating up fault zones or migrating downstream from surficial hydrothermal discharges. This model is applicable to the younger salars higher in the Andes, such as Salar de Atacama, and reconnaissance work suggests similar geochemical signatures in the salars that form the northern portion of Tama Atacama.

Tama Atacama consists of 7 highly prospective lithium prospects covering a total area of ~1,600km² and spanning over 290km from south to north.

The Pink Lithium Prospect (Pink) is the priority prospect, it is located in the Tarapacá Region, in northern Chile, near the town of La Tirana and other small settlements. The Salar Pintados and Bellavista are part of the larger PT Basin. The area has excellent access with the major northern highway running through it, as well as a network of other roads and tracks. The nearest large city is Iquique, located around 75-90km on the coast to the west. The mining service town of Pozo Almonte is located immediately north of the project area.

Certain areas of the Salars host historic borate, potassium, and salt extraction, with many areas immediately west of the Salar the host to historic nitrate mining. There is little record of any of these past mining activities. Records for previous exploration and mining are essentially non-existent as there was no requirement to lodge reports for exploration or mining activity in Chile at that time. In the 1960’s-70’s ENAP, the then National Petroleum Company, conducted oil and gas exploration in the PT Basin. Work included seismic surveying and drilling. Reported drilling results indicate basin sediments from around 300-700m thick with brines located within this horizon. There are some reports about shallow groundwater investigations, particularly in the north to eastern parts of Salar Pintados. These remain to be fully interpreted.

PAM believes the Pink prospect has the potential for deeper Li-rich brines from about 250-700m, which are hosted in consolidated to semi-consolidated sedimentary/evaporite horizons. At and near-surface. PAM believes there is potential for Li hosted in clays and evaporite layers.

The Kata Thong Geothermal Lithium & Hard Rock Lithium-Tin Project (Kata Thong) is a compilation of 5 (five) Special Prospecting Licence Applications (SPLA) in the Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand covering approximately 45km².

The Kata Thong project area and broader region has an extensive history of tin production dating back to the 16th century. The Phuket-Phang Nga-Takua Pa tin field has recorded production of at least 400,000 tonnes of tin in concentrates from 1961-1990 (Nakapadungrat and Maneenai, 1993). Ilmenite, monazite, columbite-tantalite, zircon and wolframite were common by-products. Lepidolite (lithium mica) also became a by-product at some mines. Previous mining is dominated by onshore and offshore alluvial deposits. Tin production from primary sources is generally limited to soft rock and eluvial mining using hydraulic methods. Extensive dredging was conducted in many downstream locations draining primary tin mineralisation.

There is very little record of previous exploration in the project area. This supports the premise that little modern exploration has been undertaken in the region, especially for primary hard-rock deposits. There have been several geological reconnaissance and regional studies undertaken including Garson et al, 1975, Nakapadungrat et al, 1988, Nakapadungrat and Maneenai 1993, Pollard et al 1995 and Schwartz et al 1995. Assessments of the potential for geothermal energy in parts of the project area have been assessed since the late 1970’s. A more recent and useful study is ‘Ngansom and Duerrast, 2019’.

The Kata Thong Project is approximately 35km NNE of Pan Asia Metal’s emerging Reung Kiet Lithium Project and 50km SW of the Rajjaprabha Hydro-electric Power Station. Kata Thong complements Pan Asia Metals’s Reung Kiet Lithium Project and will allow Pan Asia Metals to share its resources across the projects. Kata Thong positions Pan Asia Metals to potentially expand on its JORC Mineral Resource at its Reung Kiet Lithium Project and produce more concentrate for refining into lithium chemicals.

Kata Thong is potentially transformative for Pan Asia Metals as already, lepidolite style lithium has the potential to place Pan Asia Metals at or near the bottom of the cost curve, and the nearby 240MW Rajjaprabha Hydro-electric Power Station provides Pan Asia Metals the potential to produce lithium products with a near zero carbon footprint. Kata Thong provides Pan Asia Metals the potential to produce geothermal lithium using geothermal energy with a low to zero carbon footprint.

The geothermal fields in Pan Asia Metals’s Kata Thong application areas have geothermal discharge exit temperatures up to 78°C, meaning there is a strong prospect that geothermal energy can be generated from Pan Asia Metals’s Kata Thong geothermal fields.