Final report for EL 7522 Darwin River area 9 December 1991 to 16 May 1996

Abstract

EL 7522 is part of a contiguous block of tenure in the Darwin River.-Acacia area, Northern Territory, which is being explored from the Woodcutters Mine. The EL is located within the Proterozoic Pine Creek Geosyncline. It is situated on the northern margin of Archaean basement (Rum Jungle complex). Early Proterozoic stratigraphy from basement to the top of the South Alligator Group has been mapped or interpreted within the EL. Previous exploration was mainly targeted at base metals and uranium. Anomalous gold was however located by Northern Gold with only minor follow up work undertaken. The licence was systematically laterite and stream sediment sampled by Aztec in Year One. Follow up soil sampling on low level stream anomalies gave negative results. Work in Year Two comprised follow up RAB drilling at a Cu, Zn laterite and BLEG stream anomaly (the Highway Anomaly). A N-S trending zone of anomalous but relatively low Cu, Zn and Au was defined. The zone is associated with an aeromagnetic anomaly, and is open to the south. No field work was conducted during Years Three and Four as the anomaly outlined was given low priority. The Exploration Licence was cancelled by the Department of Mines and Energy in 1996.