Final report on EL 25406 Fog Bay and EL 27512 Finniss River, August 2010

Abstract

Hapsburg Exploration Pty Ltd held two tenements (EL 25406 and EL 27512) located at Fog Bay, about 60 km south-west of Darwin. The tenements lie on the north side of the mouth of the Finniss River, and are bordered by 5 Mile Beach on the west, Wagait Aboriginal Reserve on the south, the residential areas of Dundee Beach and Fog Bay Road on the north and north-east. The eastern boundary is bordered by tenements held by Uranex NL. Geologically, the Fog Bay tenements are located in the northern part of the Litchfield Province, which is described as a medium to high grade metamorphic terrane comprising metasedimentary and igneous rocks of Archean(?) to Lower Proterozoic age. This basement block (or province) lies on the west side of the Pine Creek Orogen and extends for several hundred kilometres in a north-south direction, and is up to 60 km wide. The Litchfield Province is also cut by (and in part bound by) several major faults which appear to be part of the Halls Creek Mobile Zone fault system. Within Hapsburg's tenements, the main rock exposure is a linear outcrop of mildly metamorphosed ferruginous sandstone and pebbly sandstone which is correlated with the Depot Creek Sandstone which forms the Tolmer Plateau. Another prominent north-south ridge in the south central part of the tenement consists of faulted quartz veined and silicified sheared sandstone. This represents a major fault structure cutting the Depot Creek Sandstone. The exploration significance of this major fault structure is the periodic occurrence of magnetic highs along the trend. These magnetic units are not seen in outcrop, so the actual cause of the magnetic response is not known. However, it is reasonable to assume that the magnetic response is derived from mafic rocks, presumably mafic intrusives into the fault structure. This has positive implications for the possible reduction and precipitation of uranium mineralisation within and adjacent to the mafic rock (c.f. the Westmorland Uranium Field in NW Qld). Exploration by Hapsburg in 2009: A geophysicist (Dave McInnes) was commissioned to evaluate the radiometric data from the UTS 2007 airborne magnetic-radiometric survey. The evaluation of the radiometric data outlined several areas with elevated uranium, especially on the new tenement (EL 27512). These airborne radiometric uranium anomalies were examined during the 2009 field season. Dave McInnes was also commissioned to evaluate and compare the UTS airborne magnetic survey with the Terra Search ground magnetic surveys. The comparison of airborne and ground magnetic surveys has allowed for the more accurate selection of magnetic anomalies for drill targets. Other field work in 2009 included the GPS location of proposed drill sites for magnetic targets A, B, C & D. Conclusion: The presence of a major N-S fault structure ('Fog Bay Fault') with related magnetic anomalies and strong alteration (silicification) forms a new and completely untested target for uranium mineralisation. In May 2010, it was recommended that an initial program of four drill holes be used to test the magnetic anomalies along (and adjacent to) the major structure. It was also recommended that the area containing the high uranium radiometric anomaly located on Hapsburg's new tenement application (EL 27512) should also be tested by shallow drilling. However, a recent corporate decision to cut-back on uranium exploration has led to the relinquishment of both tenements (EL 25406 and EL 27512). If circumstances change in the future, we may re-visit these areas (if available).