Third Annual and Final Report EL 3289 covering year ending 6th March 1985

Abstract

Exploration Licences 3288 and 3289 are two contiguous licences granted on the 19th March, 1982 to C.R. Townsend and surrendered on the 6th March 1985. Both EL's were worked concurrently and this Final Report Incorporates the total work

carried out. Work was concentrated on the Connies Hill, Shirt Tail, Porters Creek and Walkers Creek areas with bulk sampling being the principal exploration technique used.Earlier work in the upper Walkers/Porters Creeks areas had located tin/tantalum

mineralization in weathered pegmatitic material within the Welltree Metamorphics schists. To the south, alluvial and eluvial material containing Sn/Ta was found in the Connies Hill, Shirt Tail and Goatshed areas. The work programme for the third and final year of tenure was to test the economic viability of these areas, with a view to pegging the areas containing mineable material, with only minor sampling being done from the previously bulk sampled Connies Hill area. Several thousands of tonnes were put through a mobile washing/concentrator plant. The lack of available water due to the very poor wet season presented serious problems for the operation of the washer /concentrator increasing operating costs considerably as the plant had to be shifted to a site off the licence areas to where water was available, thus Increasing cartage costs. Results were not encouraging with 2000 tonnes of material producing only 200 kilograms of heavy material. These concentrates were not analysed but were bulked with other materials for future marketing.