Annual report for year ending 19 October 2015 EL 30160, Wickstead

Abstract

Exploration Licence 30160 (Wickstead project) was granted to Arafura Resources Limited on the 20th October 2014. The tenement was acquired to test the prospectivity of the region for rare earth element (REE) mineralisation to complement Arafura Resources' nearby Nolans Bore REE-P-U deposit. The region neighbouring and including the Wickstead project has been historically explored for gold, base metals, uranium and diamonds; however no production for any commodity has been reported. Prior to Arafura's interest no company had investigated the REE potential of the region. Arafura Resources acquired the tenement to explore for REE mineralisation based on the presence of regional structure consistent with that of the Nolans Bore deposit and the apparent shallowness of basement suggested by nearby outcrop. The Wickstead project is flanked to the north by the Reynolds Range; however the ground within the tenement is of low relief comprised primarily of Cenozoic alluvial, colluvial and sheet flood sediments. Very minor subdued outcrop of Proterozoic basement occurs in the north and east of the project area and is comprised of unassigned granitic orthogneiss and retrogressively metamorphosed rock. In the east of the project area Wickstead Creek, the projects namesake, dissects the Mulga dominated sheet flood plain and in the west an unnamed creek drains the Reynolds Range south through most of the project area. The geology proximal to the project area is dominated by the Wickstead Creek beds; a formation originally assigned to the Palaeoproterozoic Lander Rock Beds but now believed to be part of the younger Palaeoproterozoic Reynolds Range Group. This package is comprised of calc-silicate, marble, gneiss and schist. This metasedimentary sequence was intruded by the Napperby Gneiss, a porphyritic granitoid of the Palaeoproterozoic Napperby suite.Work undertaken on EL 30160 during the first year of tenure was restricted to a desktop study of historical reports and compilation of historical data over the exploration licence into a GIS. SPOT Maps 2.5m resolution satellite imagery was purchased while the exploration licence was under application and covers the entirety of the Wickstead project area.