Pan American Energy Corp Announces Filing of Inaugural NI 43-101 Technical Report For The Horizon Lithium Project

The maiden Mineral Resource Estimate included in the Technical Report Is One of The Largest Identified Lithium Deposits in the United States, Totaling Over 1.3 million tonnes of Indicated and 8.8 million tonnes of Inferred Lithium Carbonate Equivalent Resources

CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pan American Energy Corp. (CSE:PNRG) (OTCQB: PAANF) (FRA: SS60) (“Pan American” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated November 20, 2023 announcing the maiden mineral resource estimate (the “MRE”) for the Horizon Lithium Project (the “Project”), it has filed a technical report pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“43-101”) entitled “NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Horizon Lithium Project” with an effective date of December 21, 2023 (the “Technical Report”). The Company has filed the Technical Report on the Company’s SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca and the Technical Report is also available on the Company’s website. The Technical Report was prepared by Tabetha Stirrett, P. Geo., and Erik Hemstad, PE, each of RESPEC, LLC (“RESPEC”), and each of whom is a “Qualified Person” for purposes 43-101 and independent of the Company.

Key Highlights of the Technical Report

• One of the largest identified lithium deposits in the U.S. with an estimated Indicated Mineral Resource of 1,325 Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (“LCE”) Kilo tonnes (“KTonnes”) and Inferred Mineral Resource of 8,879 LCE KTonnes, with an average grade of 678 ppm lithium (“Li”) (see table below for additional details regarding the calculation of the MRE and the average Li grades for the Inferred Mineral Resources and Indicated Mineral Resources).
• High-Grade Mineral Resources. Estimates were calculated based on a conservative 300 ppm Li cut-off within an optimized pit.
• Rapid advancement in a short timeframe. The MRE is based on 20 diamond drill holes completed in 2023, within one year of the Company acquiring rights to the Project pursuant to the property option agreement entered into with the owner of the Project, Horizon Lithium LLC. One hole was abandoned due to hole conditions and was not used in the MRE.
• Significant expansion potential through step-out drilling to extend the deposit to the Northwest, South, East and West and at greater depths. The Company is actively evaluating geophysical exploration techniques and Phase 3 drill planning, as recommended by the authors of the Technical Report.
• Project engineering. The authors of the Technical Report recommend that a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") be completed for the Project, pending results from geochemical testing of samples gathered during the recommended drilling and planned metallurgical testwork. The Company has begun the work necessary to complete the necessary metallurgical testwork, and the Company is targeting the completion of a PEA in Q4-2024.
• Access and infrastructure. The Project benefits from an ideal location near essential infrastructure and the town of Tonopah with limited impediments (i.e. no highway intersects impacting pit design).

Jason Latkowcer, Chief Executive Officer of Pan American, states, "We are proud to publish the inaugural technical report for the Project. The initial mineral resource estimation highlights the identification of a promising high-grade, large-tonnage lithium deposit in North America. The deposit is open in numerous directions and at depth. We expect upcoming geophysical exploration techniques to further refine Phase 3 drill targeting and are in active conversations with partners to support metallurgical testing as we advance towards a PEA at the Project.”