Partial relinquishment report EL 24533 Vaughan Springs Ngalia Regional Project 6 February 2006 to 8 January 2016

Abstract

Exploration Licence 24533 (Vaughan Springs) is part of the 100% owned Energy Metals Ltd (EME) Ngalia Regional Project situated approximately 360km northwest of Alice Springs and 20km southwest of the Bigrlyi uranium project (Kerr and Liu, 2015). EL 24533 was granted on 6 February 2006. A partial reduction (reducing the EL by 37 blocks or 54% of the original area) was approved on 8 January 2016. This report covers exploration activities that occurred on the surrendered area during Energy Metals period of tenure. The tenement covers areas of granitic basement in the north and west of the tenement. Large areas of Vaughan Springs Quartzite (basal Naglia Basin) crop out along the prominent Treuer Range in the central part of the tenement, and the south and east mainly comprises Mount Eclipse Sandstone under sand cover of variable thickness. Exploration activities on the relinquished blocks were limited by a large Aboriginal site of heritage significance within which ground disturbing works including drilling were either not permitted or restricted. The heritage area covers all of the Treuer Range and much of the surrounding sand plain. Exploration work over Energy Metals? period of tenure included ground reconnaissance surveys, a heritage survey, an aerial geophysical radiometric and magnetic survey with interpretation (2007), a ground radiometric survey (2008), and a project review (2015). The ground radiometric survey was designed to test for radiometric anomalies along the inferred northeast extension of the Waite Creek thrust fault system in basement terrain. However, radiometric anomalies were found to be associated with a dominance of Th relative to U, with low assessed potential for the presence of a uranium mineralised system. Following further assessment in 2015, the northwest and some southeast parts of the tenement were considered to be non-prospective for uranium and were relinquished.