LITHIUM GRAPHITE REEs development of a small commercial scale L- Max ® plant to process lepidolite concentrate sourced from the Reung Kiet Lithium Project in Thailand. Argo had a 75 % interest in Siam Industries Metals Co Ltd, which secured three Special Prospecting Licence Applications( SPLA) covering an area of approximately 40 km 2 in southern Thailand prospective for lithium bearing micas – the Reung Kiet Lithium Project. Argo around the same time was acquired by ASX-listed Viking Mines Ltd.
Reung Kiet is located on the mainland, approximately 25 km northeast of Phuket Island and is readily accessible and has well established infrastructure. The project area hosts numerous small historical mines that extracted tin from alluvial and primary sources until the 1970s-80s.
As advised by Argo, these activities exposed lithium bearing pegmatites comprising some 3-4 km of combined length within a prospective trend of over 10 km. Two main pegmatite zones exist within the area: 1. Reung Kiet, a lepidolite-rich pegmatite over 1 km in strike and up to 20 m wide with a reported lepidolite grade of up to 3 % Li 2O; and
2. Bang I Tum, a 2 km long lepidolite-rich pegmatite, at least 20 m wide in places, and with a reported lepidolite grade of over 4 % Li 2O.
Argo advised that a beneficiation study was conducted in the 1960s on a pegmatite sample from the then operating Reung Kiet mine. The pegmatite was estimated to contain 50 % lepidolite. Froth flotation recovered 80 % of the lepidolite into a concentrate grading 3.5 % Li 2O. Sampling reported by Argo and Viking includes 17 rock-chip samples that averaged 1.45 % Li 2O and 234 ppm Ta 2O 5, with peak values of 1.98 % Li 2O and 308 ppm Ta 2O 5, thus confirming the historical results at this lepidolite-rich area.“ The characteristics of the Reung Kiet pegmatites are ideally suited to produce quality
Sileach pilot plant in operation at ANSTO Minerals
concentrate feed for an L-Max ® plant. In addition, the reported dimensions of the pegmatites, and their lepidolite-rich nature, suggests the potential to provide a long-term feed source.”
Lepidico owns the technology to the L-Max metallurgical process that has successfully produced lithium carbonate from nonconventional sources, specifically lithium-rich mica minerals including lepidolite and combine precise coordinates
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