Annual report for EL 9710 and EL 9745, year ending 21 May 2008

Abstract

The West Davenport project area is situated in the southwest Davenport Province in the central part of Northern Territory, 150 kilometres south-southeast of Tennant Creek. Gold mineralisation was discovered in the nearby Kurinelli goldfield area over 100 years ago in 1898 by prospector/explorer Davidson (Davidson, 1905) but the region has been subjected to only limited, spasmodic attention since that time. Current activity by local prospectors in the area is directed towards recovery of gold nuggets from shallow alluvial and colluvial deposits using metal detectors. Several hundred to several thousand ounces of gold are estimated to have been recovered in this way over the past 10-20 years. Historical exploration centred on gold mineralisation within quartz veins which characteristically occur within interbedded sandstone/siltstone (Rooneys Formation) and conformable gabbro/dolerite sills. The two main mines were the Kurinelli Mine (former MCC59) and the Dempsey's Choice Mine (MCC191). Historical production was about 400 ounces of gold. The units which host the gold mineralisation also occur elsewhere in the Davenport Province but no significant gold mineralisation has been discovered to date in these areas. Despite this, historic exploration activity has indicated traces of gold mineralisation in streams and rock chips from several other locations, including the West Davenport project area. EL 9745 also hosts the Silver Valley Pb-Ag prospect, and includes trace Cu and Zn? mineralisation.The abandoned Wauchope Field Tungsten deposits are about 10 kilometres northwest of EL 9710. Although many companies have held tenure in the Davenport Province in the past, most work has been superficial, and drilling is notable for its almost total absence away from the old mining centre at Hatches Creek, which is about 20-30 kilometres south of the Kurinelli field and about 30-35 kilometres northeast of Silver Valley. No samples were collected from within exclusion zones around Aboriginal sacred sites advised by the Central Land Council. No samples were collected from within granted mineral claims, and priority applications for mineral claims, held by unrelated parties without their permission. A total of 76 paired stream sediment samples, including three duplicates, were collected from EL 9745. A 50g -80g sample was collected for base metals while a 1.5-2 kg -3.3 millimetres sample was collected for low-level Au and Ag by BLEG. The highest values were: 8.6 ppb Ag, 1.9 ppb Au, 19.1 ppm Co, 20 ppm Cu, 16.2 ppm Ni, 20.4 ppm Pb, 99.5 ppm Zn. The results were generally low however several potential low order Au/Ag anomalies do exist. These have more than 1 ppb Au and should be evaluated further.