Annual report for EL 26317 Palmer River for the period ending 5 May 2009

Abstract

Exploration licence 26317 Palmer River was granted to Regalpoint Exploration Ltd (Regalpoint) on 6 May 2008, covering an area of 80 blocks. The project area is located in the central Amadeus Basin, approximately 20 km south of the Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve and 135 km southwest of Alice Springs. Approximately 80% of EL 26317 is covered by sand and alluvial sediments. Bedrock exposure is limited to scattered outcrops of the Pertnjara Group and siliciciclastic rocks of the Ordovician to Cambrian Larapinta Group and Neoproterozoic Winnall Beds. The project area is located on an east-west trending synclinal fold axis and at the intersection of two major fault zones. There are no known mineral occurrences within the project area. The Palmer River licence is an outcome of a comprehensive uranium prospectivity study of the Australian continent. This study was funded by Regalpoint and undertaken by a research team at the Centre for Exploration Targeting, a joint venture between the University of Western Australia and Curtin University of Technology. Regalpoint selected the area because of its potential for sandstone uranium mineralisation in the Pertnjara Group, in particular along a deep-seated crustal fracture that coincides with a highly prospective domain in the uranium prospectivity model generated at the Centre for Exploration Targeting. The main initial exploration objectives are to assess (1) whether the project area contains any zones of anomalous uranium, in particular over the deep-seated crustal fracture, and (2) whether any reduced zones are present within the local sandstone sequences. Exploration activities undertaken to date include a review of previous exploration activities, compilation of publically available geological, geochemical and geophysical data into a GIS, and reconnaissance exploration. Recommended exploration activities for 2009-10 include stratigraphic drilling at a small number of carefully selected locations to test for the presence of reduced strata, and an alpha track (radon gas) survey over the area where the deep-seated crustal fracture is overlain by sandstones of the Pertnjara Group.