Matsa Resources has found 9 lithium pegmatite outcrops at its play in Thailand

Matsa Resources’ (ASX:MAT) shareholders are enjoying a 9.7% rise in the share price to 4c this afternoon as the company logs its discovery of nine pegmatite lithium outcrops at its Phang Nga project in Southern Thailand. 

Rock chip samples have been sent to Perth with initial assay results pending; the region Matsa is exploring is situated within a historical global tin province, but the company notes heavy vegetation will delay work on the ground. 

Regardless, fieldwork is now underway by company geotechs to conduct soil sampling and mapping with a follow up program slated for “immediate action.” The cluster of nine outcrops occurs in a region some 500m x 2km in size. 

Worth noting is that Matsa’s discovery does not relate to spodumene mineralisation which Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) shareholders will be familiar with, but instead lepidolite. 

What is lepidolite? 

Lepidolite is another common source rock hosting mineralisation that is less commonly mined than its better-known counterpart, spodumene. 

Lepidolite refining practices to yield lithium metals are less developed than that for spodumene, and fewer companies focus on lepidolite exploration.

However, a number of companies on the ASX boast lepidolite deposits, including De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG), Lepidico (ASX:LPD), Lithium Australia (ASX:LIT) and Metals Australia (ASX:MLS).

Surveys by the British Geological Survey (BGS) conducted in the Southern Thailand region in the 1970s first confirmed lepidolite mineralisation. 

Another company, Pan Asian Metals (ASX:PAM) operate a similar operation nearby, lifting the confidence of Matsa’s geotech team. Pan Asian recently moved to a successful publication of a mineral resource for its Reung Kiet project. 

Rapid move to successful hit 

Matsa first flagged its intention to explore for lithium in Thailand back in February. 

The company acquired 65 prospecting licences spanning over 942km2, host to lithium occurrences reported by Thailand’s Department of Minerals and Resources and backed up by historical BGS activity. 

“I cannot be more delighted to move to discovery in under 9 months,” Matsa Resources chair Paul Poli said. 

“Thailand will keep delivering and gives me greater confidence our projects are highly attractive…we also know this is the first of several potential lithium target areas.” 

“I hold high hopes we will continue to find more lithium…the western granite belt has been one of the great tin provinces of the world and I am eager to add lithium to that story.”

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