EL 27933 Wollunga Well Final surrender and partial annual report

Abstract

EL 27933 was contiguous with Rum Jungle Resources' EL 28885 (granted 6 March 2012) and it was hoped to work the two together as the Angas (also spelt Angus) Downs Potash Project. This project covered a palaeo-salt lake system, rather than active lakes as at Rum Jungle Resources' flagship Karinga Lakes Brine Potash Project. In the case of Angas Downs, it was not known to what extent basement aquifers are involved; if brine is being discharged from the Amadeus Basin sedimentary rocks; if pooled brine or bedded evaporites exist in the subsurface; or if Amadeus Basin evaporite diapirs are affecting the Angas Downs project area. EL 27933 was pegged to target potash and other evaporites. Uranium was specifically excluded as a target. EL 27933 is on private NT Por 620 held by Angas Downs as Perpetual Pastoral Lease. This Station is an Indigenous Protected Area under Commonwealth legislation granted on 10 June 2009 as part of the Australian Government's Caring for our Country scheme. The property forms part of Australia's National Reserve System. The Traditional Owners wish to use Angas Downs as a homeland. Rum Jungle Resources Ltd met with the manager of Angas Downs Station in 2011 and 2012 (as per any PPL), but he was not in a position to grant access and referred the matter to the CLC. On 10 August 2011, the CLC acknowledged RUM's application for access and said that a formal Native Title Agreement was required, even though this was pastoral land in the eyes of DME. Organising an on-country meeting involving all the relevant Traditional Owners proved difficult and could not be organised by the CLC until 14 March 2013. Despite this positive on-country meeting and despite numerous approaches thereafter, the CLC took until January 2014 to get back to Rum Jungle Resources. The CLC insisted on Rum Jungle Resources signing a separate confidentiality agreement before providing a draft formal access agreement. The draft access agreement imposed much more onerous conditions on Rum Jungle Resources than previous CLC agreements and, in the opinion of Rum Jungle Resources, usurped many of the roles of DME. The details of the draft agreement have to remain confidential. Rum Jungle Resources refused to enter into such a one-sided agreement on what according to DME is PPL and, as such, requires no agreement. After DME began to impose loss-of-block penalties for not meeting expenditure commitments (the considerable CLC and legal costs being non-admissible) Rum Jungle Resources was left no option other than to surrender the entire Angas Downs Project. Rum Jungle Resources has instead concentrated on its similar grassroots potash exploration in Western Australia.