Flagship Minerals Outlines 40Mt Tungsten Target in Thailand Amid Critical Mineral Squeeze
Key Takeaways
- Flagship Minerals has announced a JORC (2012) compliant Exploration Target of 22–40 million tonnes at 0.15–0.30% WO3 across five mineralised zones at the Khao Soon Tungsten Project in southern Thailand.
- The strongest drill intercepts include 51.2m at 0.50% WO3 and 34.0m at 0.63% WO3 at Than Pho West, with high-grade sub-intervals reaching 1.37% WO3.
- Flagship is evaluating three monetisation pathways for Khao Soon — a full sale, a spin-out into a dedicated listed vehicle, or a joint venture with a strategic partner — classifying it as a non-core asset.
- The project sits approximately 600km south of Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor, ranked as the largest manufacturing zone in Southeast Asia, providing a proximate demand base for tungsten as a critical industrial input.
- The Exploration Target is conceptual in nature and sits below a Mineral Resource in the JORC confidence hierarchy — further exploration is required before a Mineral Resource can be estimated.
A tungsten giant takes shape in southern Thailand
Flagship Minerals (ASX: FLG) has announced a JORC (2012) compliant Exploration Target of 22 to 40 million tonnes at 0.15% to 0.30% WO3 across five mineralised zones at the Khao Soon Tungsten Project in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, southern Thailand. The company has held Khao Soon since 2014, with the project covering approximately 26 km² situated around 600km south of Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), recently ranked as the largest manufacturing zone in Southeast Asia.
With a large-scale tungsten system now outlined, Flagship is considering three strategic options for the asset: a full sale, a spin-out into a dedicated listed vehicle (subject to shareholder and ASX approvals), or a joint venture with a strategic partner.
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Q2 FY27 exploration target results at a glance
The Exploration Target spans five distinct mineralised zones, each supported by drilling and/or surface geochemistry. The zone-by-zone breakdown is presented below.
| Mineralised Zone | Tonnes Lower (Mt) | Tonnes Upper (Mt) | WO3% Lower | WO3% Upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Than Pho West | 9 | 14 | 0.20% | 0.30% |
| Last Hill | 5 | 10 | 0.20% | 0.40% |
| Than Pho Ridge | 2 | 4 | 0.15% | 0.25% |
| Target 2 | 3 | 7 | 0.15% | 0.25% |
| Target 1 | 3 | 5 | 0.05% | 0.08% |
| Total | 22 | 40 | 0.15% | 0.30% |
Key project attributes at a glance:
- Five interpreted mineralised zones across approximately 4.5km aggregate strike length, open laterally and at depth
- The Exploration Targets are defined to conservative vertical depths of up to 120m below surface, with near-surface weathered zones considered amenable to open pit mining
- Adjacent to the historic Khao Soon tungsten mine (also held by Flagship), where USGS personnel reported in 1974 that only the highest grade material was being mined, with estimated grades of 5–12% W (~6–15% WO3)
- 30 diamond drill holes (2,603.5m) and 64 aircore holes completed by Flagship and previous explorer Thai Goldfields
Managing Director Paul Lock
“Flagship has held the Khao Soon Tungsten Project since 2014 as its production history, geology, scale potential and location render the project as potentially one of the largest and most strategically positioned tungsten projects in Asia.
“Khao Soon provides Flagship’s shareholders with meaningful exposure to an advanced and strategically positioned tungsten exploration asset in a price environment which suggests that securing such a strategic industrial input is difficult – to say the least – and therefore assets such as Khao Soon are becoming increasingly valuable…”
Why tungsten — and why Khao Soon matters right now
Tungsten is a dense metal used extensively in industrial cutting tools, defence applications, and electronics. Many governments classify it as a critical mineral given its strategic importance and concentrated global supply chains.
Managing Director Lock’s comment that “securing such a strategic industrial input is difficult – to say the least” signals meaningful tightness in the current tungsten supply environment. That tightness is what makes a large-scale, well-located project like Khao Soon increasingly relevant to potential acquirers and strategic partners.
For investors less familiar with exploration-stage reporting, a JORC Exploration Target is a conceptual estimate of potential scale based on available geological data. It sits below a Mineral Resource in the confidence hierarchy, meaning it indicates scale potential but requires further work before a Mineral Resource can be estimated. The Khao Soon target is explicitly noted as conceptual in nature; at this stage it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in a Mineral Resource estimation.
Khao Soon’s location approximately 600km south of the EEC adds a demand-side dimension to the project’s strategic value. The EEC’s status as the largest manufacturing zone in Southeast Asia creates a proximate end-user base for critical industrial inputs, including tungsten.
Drill results that built the target — significant intercepts
The Exploration Target is underpinned by 30 HQ and PQ diameter diamond drill holes totalling 2,603.5m, drilled by Flagship between 2017 and 2021, supplemented by 64 aircore holes completed by Thai Goldfields in 2013.
The most compelling intercepts from the drilling program include:
- KSDD001: 51.2m at 0.50% WO3, including 12.8m at 1.07% WO3 (Than Pho West)
- KSDD002: 34.0m at 0.63% WO3, including 11.9m at 1.37% WO3 (Than Pho West)
- KSDD032: 59.4m at 0.43% WO3, including 22.1m at 0.70% WO3 (Than Pho West)
- KSDD040: 20.1m at 0.74% WO3 (Than Pho West)
IP geophysics has also identified high chargeability anomalies at Than Pho West and Last Hill that require drill testing, indicating potential further upside beneath the current targets. Separately, mineralogical work conducted by Flagship has confirmed scheelite-style skarn mineralisation with abundant fluorite at Than Pho West, which opens possible metallurgical pathways for tungsten recovery.
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What comes next — pathways to value for FLG shareholders
Flagship classifies Khao Soon as a non-core asset. The company’s stated core strategy is to advance the Isidora Gold Project in Chile towards development and secure additional gold or copper opportunities, a focus it recently demonstrated with the Whipsaw Copper acquisition in British Columbia, Canada.
For the Khao Soon asset, three strategic options are under consideration:
- Full sale of the Khao Soon project
- Spin-out into a dedicated listed vehicle (subject to shareholder and ASX approvals)
- Joint venture with a strategic partner
Each of these options represents a potential source of non-dilutionary capital that Flagship could apply to its Isidora Gold Project and other gold and copper initiatives. Before any transaction, the company has proposed a future exploration work programme to improve the asset’s valuation, including metallurgical evaluation, additional drilling, and drone magnetics and IP geophysics programmes.
The Khao Soon monetisation strategy follows an established playbook for Flagship: the RK Lithium sale earlier in 2026 generated US$4.0 million that was redirected toward gold and copper initiatives, demonstrating the company’s willingness to crystallise value from non-core holdings to fund its core thesis.
Flagship’s broader portfolio provides context for its core investment thesis. The Isidora Gold Project in Chile’s Maricunga Gold Belt carries a JORC Mineral Resource of 2,093 koz of gold, while the recently acquired Whipsaw Copper Project in British Columbia holds a JORC Exploration Target across a mineralised system 3.7km in strike length.
Investors should note that the Khao Soon Exploration Target is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration conducted to estimate a Mineral Resource, and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in a Mineral Resource estimation.
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