Final report on EL 25687 Flying Fox

Abstract

The Flying Fox project EL 25687 was identified as having potential for uranium mineralisation from a review of publicly available airborne radiometric data. The tenement straddles the boundary of the Moroak and Flying Fox stations, about 130km east of Katherine. The tenement is located in the West McArthur Basin, where sandstones, siltstones and mudstones of the Roper Group are intruded by dolerite sills and diorite dykes. The initial exploration objective was either an Unconformity-type Uranium Deposit similar to those of the Alligator River Province, or a palaeochannel deposit similar to the Honeymoon Well project in South Australia. During the 2008 reporting period a review of available open- file information on the license was performed, seeking evidence to facilitate the exploration for uranium within the area. The most readily accessible data was airborne geophysics, geological mapping, mineral occurrence and topographic information. Airborne radiometric anomalies were investigated on the ground, using a portable gamma ray spectrometer, and sampled for analysis where of interest. Most of the anomalies were associated with black soils or lateritised profiles. Determinations of uranium, thorium and potassium were made using the gamma ray spectrometer, while rock chip samples were also investigated with a Niton field-portable XRF device. Soil geochemical samp les were taken in areas that lacked outcrop, and submitted for ICP-MS multi-element assay. None of the samples submitted showed significant uranium anomalism and no further work was recommended. No field work was conducted in 2009 due to ongoing joint venture negotiations for a farm out of this and other tenements held by Tianda. Preliminary exploration carried out by Terra Search established that radiometric anomalism was due to exotic surface features and not primary uranium mineralization. Although EL 25687 is located in the Roper Iron Field, there is little outcrop and no iron potential within the tenement. Therefore no further work was recommended, and the tenement was surrendered on 25 March 2010.