Final report SEL 9591 (area included in SELA 24352)

Abstract

SEL 9591 is centred 120km SE of Darwin, NT. It was granted to Territory Goldfields NL on 31st October 1996 and following reductions and several renewals, expired at the end of October 2004. The tenement, initially of 251 blocks, comprised the substitution of numerous pre existing exploration licences that had been pre owned by several companies and individuals including Northern Gold NL, Dominion Gold Operations P/L and WMC. This report is a compilation of all exploration work undertaken on the SEL since grant. As the area has been incorporated into a new application, SEL 24352, this report will for the time being, remain on closed file. Fourteen blocks were surrendered prior to the application for SEL 24352 and work on these has been submitted as a separate report. (Shaw J. Final Report Surrendered Blocks SEL 9591, Dec. 2004) In April 2002 Territory Goldfields NL entered into a joint venture agreement with Buffalo Creek Mines P/L. (Harmony Gold Operations Ltd). The SEL and surrounding tenements were included in the dealing that placed management of the tenements under Burnside Operations P/L. Since grant of SEL 9591 on October 31st 1996, Territory Goldfields NL (Northern Gold NL) carried out several exploration programs comprising geophysical surveys, RC, diamond and RAB drilling, soil/rock chip sampling, trenching, resource modelling and estimates. These programs were mainly focused on prospects on the northern extension of the Howley Anticline and included Bons Rush, Ios, Ithaca, F16, Big Red Blob, Santorini, and Rhodes. To the south, prospects included Liberator, Chinese West, North Howley Siding, and to the east, Mt Bonnie North. Geochemical sampling was conducted at McCallum Creek in the north east of the tenement. In the two and a half years of Burnside management, prior to surrender, the tenement was subjected to RC drilling, drill core analysis, surveying, and resource remodelling, followed by structural interpretation and domain ranking using remote sensing data. Several of the above prospects, shown by exploration to contain gold resources, are either excised from the SEL under separate tenure or under application. The Ios deposit has largely been sterilised by the proximity of the new Darwin-Adelaide railway. The bulk of technical data relating to the 1997-2004 period is available as a CD in digital format in the Appendices of this report. Other data is presented as hard copy.