This report presents details of work completed by Mantle Mining Corporation (Mantle) on areas relinquished from Exploration License (EL) 26018 during the period of tenure 05 December 2007 to 04 December 2010. The tenement comprised part Mantle’s Barkly Project, covering portions of the Georgina Basin on the Barkly Tableland considered to be prospective for phosphate mineralisation. Potential also exists for the discovery of deposits of base metals, uranium and potash in these areas.

A desktop review of the tenement area was undertaken as part of a regional assessment of Mantle’s Barkly Project Area during 2007 and 2008. This work provided the basis for a program of field reconnaissance during the 4th quarter of 2008, which did not reveal any obvious signs of mineralisation (P, U, base metals) at any potential sites identified by the desktop studies.

No field work was undertaken on the Barkly Project between December 2008 and August 2009 as Mantle undertook steps to conserve resources and confirm funding as a consequence of the Global Financial Crisis.

During the period late November to early December 2009, four (4) reverse circulation drillholes were completed for a total of 176 metres within the relinquished areas of EL 26018. Drillholes were completed in a broad spaced reconnaissance pattern adjacent to accessible station tracks. 

All drill samples were analysed on-site using a handheld Field Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (FPXRF) instrument for a total 176 sample analyses and 19 Quality Assurance (QA) checks. A total of 35 1-metre split drill samples were submitted for laboratory testing.


The results of this work have indicated that the discovery of a large deposit of phosphate mineralisation was unlikely to be present at shallow depth within the relinquished areas.