Pan Asia Metals MD puts ‘skin in the game’ in support of $1.2 million placement

Fresh off acquiring a significant new project in Chile, Pan Asia Metals (ASX: PAM) has added to its bank balance with the successful raising $1,265,000 via a well-supported placement to new and existing sophisticated and institutional shareholders.

The company’s chairman and managing director, Paul Lock, has put his own “skin in the game” by subscribing for $500,000 in shares, with $400,000 of that provided to the company prior to the placement.

Mr Lock said the placement was well received.

He said the progress that has been made at the company’s Reung Kiet lithium project, the company’s previous announcement regarding its MOU with IRPC endorsing Pan Asia’s Concentrate to CAM initiative in South-East Asia and Pan Asia’s recent Tama Atacama brine-clay lithium project announcement was a real attraction.

“This positions Pan Asia with one of the most strategic lithium in brine and lithium in clay plays in the global peer group, and Pan Asia’s previously announced mid-stream processing MOU with VinES for which a PFS is imminent, all of which position Pan Asia with the potential to be one of lowest cost lithium chemical producers, purchasing Pan Asia’s shares at $0.25 based on a market capitalisation of about $35 million is a no brainer.”

Chile deal a new chapter

In late July, Pan Asia created a new chapter in its evolving story when it added a highly prospective Chilean lithium asset to its critical mineral portfolio.

The company has entered into binding memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to investigate a number of lithium projects situated in the Tarapaca and Antofagasta regions of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.

In announcing the deal, the company’s management said Pan Asia was able to take advantage of Chilean political rumblings to secure very high-quality projects in a highly contested region.

Chile heading in the right direction

“If anything, the Chilean policy developments with regard to lithium have only been positive,” Mr Lock said.

“The Tama-Atacama lithium project is the result of many, many hours of research and enquiry. The project comes with an agreement with Jacob Rebek to be Pan Asia’s geological advisor for Chile and Thomas Eggers to be Pan Asia’s consulting country manager for Chile. This was an important step to ensure that Pan Asia is well represented and informed, and to ensure the project progresses speedily,” he said.

He noted that the decision to acquire the South American project came after a review of the company’s future direction.

Large acreage holdings

Collectively known as the Tama-Atacama lithium project, the new areas to be assessed are divided into six main areas and extend over 290km from north to south and encompass approximately 1400 sq. km of exploration concession applications and granted exploration concessions.

Previous studies carried out in the project area have identified strong potential for lithium brine and lithium in clay deposits hosted in the Pampa del Tamarugal basin in the northern part of the Atacama Desert.

Apart from its lithium prospectivity, the project also benefits from its proximity to excellent infrastructure including the Pan Americana 5 highway, water (salt and fresh), solar power, nearby ports, airports and major logistics hubs.