Pan Asia Metals progresses regulatory landscape for Reung Kiet with mining zones declared
The declaration of mining zones at Reung Kiet paves the way for Pan Asia to submit mining lease applications.
Pan Asia Metals (ASX: PAM) has progressed the regulatory landscape for its Reung Kiet lithium project in southern Thailand with mining zones declared over most of the project area.
The cabinet of the Government of Thailand has approved a Mineral Management Master Plan No 2 (MMMP2), which was prepared by the National Mineral Management Policy Commission (NMMPC).
This MMMP2 is in effect till the end of 2027 and makes up part of the broader Mineral Management Strategy, which has been planned to 2037.
Under the MMMP2, the NMMPC was able to designate mining zones for Reung Kiet.
The zones capture the entire Reung Kiet and Bang I Tum mineralisation trends and pave the way for Pan Asia to submit mining lease applications.
Once granted, the mining leases will give Pan Asia the right to establish a mining business at the project.
The MMMP2 also has mechanisms to allow investment promotion and policies for mineral exploration, resource extraction and downstream industries.
Environmental studies
In parallel to advancing the mining lease applications, Pan Asia has been completing base line environmental studies at Reung Kiet.
These studies are assessing the quality of local air, surface, groundwater, and include monitoring noise and community health.
Pan Asia has also been conducting community information and support programs.
Reung Kiet lithium project
Reung Kiet covers about 40 square kilometres in the Phang Nga Province northeast of Phuket.
The project comprises three contiguous special prospecting licences and one exclusive prospecting licence.
It is prospective for lepidolite lithium mineralisation.
The Reung Kiet deposit has a resource of 10.4 million tonnes at 0.44% lithium, while Bang I Tum has an exploration target of 8-14Mt at 0.5-0.8% lithium.
Drilling programs are underway with a resource update planned for Reung Kiet later in the year.
Additionally, metallurgical test work on Reung Kiet ore has yielded “exceptional results”.
A 3% lithium mica concentrate has been produced, with recoveries up to 0.78% lithium.
Mineralisation has also shown it is amenable to conventional crushing, grinding and flotation.