EL 29837 Catfish Hole Third annual report year to 26 August 2016

Abstract

Ripple Resources is a fully owned subsidiary of Armour Energy Ltd. Armour has been exploring the gas and oil resources of the McArthur Basin, and has made a significant gas discovery in the Glyde sub basin. Ripple has selected Exploration Licences within areas inside the Armour Energy permits, and has been cooperating with Armour in order to evaluate these EL's for their base metal potential. This cooperation has involved modifications and extensions to the Armour program so that it has greater relevance for base metal exploration. Additionally, the techniques and concepts used in hydrocarbon exploration overlap with leading edge base metal exploration. Base metal exploration within EL 29837 is challenging because of the rugged topography and cover geology. Breccia hosted and stratiform mineralisation trends into the area from outcropping areas to the north west, the most notable being the Coxco trend and the Myrtle sub basin. The imputed depths of mineralisation are believed to be mostly about 500m - 1000m, below the limit of airborne EM penetration. Previous exploration by Amoco Minerals (and Petroleum) and by MIM relied on airborne EM as a target generating technique. Amoco found outcropping Barney Creek shales and breccias in what was named the Glyde sub basin. Subsequent drilling found little evidence of proximal hydrothermal sulphide deposition in the sub basin, although it did encounter gas flows. The Glyde sub basin boundary was a NW - SE striking growth fault that passed through the southern third of the EL. Little is known about the Barney Creek formation to the north. Ripple has previously participated with Armour in two major activities within EL 29837 (2014). A Falcon airborne gravity and magnetics survey has been flown, imaged and interpreted. One gravity anomaly adjacent to the Emu fault was diamond drilled to 1275m in hole LP3. The hole was subsequently logged with downhole geophysics including IP. This hole intersected 75m of semi massive pyrite infill and replacements hosted by the Cooley breccia member of the Barney Creek formation. This is considered significant because it demonstrates that the Falcon survey has generated drill targets due to sulphides, and also it demonstrates that a significant hydrothermal sulphide system has mineralised the Barney Creek formation in the area. In 2015, Ripple ranked the gravity anomalies by selecting those that have responses due to bodies that extend up to 300m depth, and then prioritised them according to whether they have adjacent geochemical anomalies and EM conductors in updip positions. A Frogtech basin wide analysis of the entire McArthur Basin was used to confirm the fault bounded nature of these targeted sub basins. Three locations were selected, ranked A B and C. These will target parts of a sub basin created by the interaction of faults along strike from mineralisation within the Larrakeyah Mining Lease. Site A may well be eventually sited just inside an adjacent Ripple EL, depending upon access. Work has been postponed due to the death of Aubrey McLarendon, of American Energy Partners who undertook to fund ongoing Armour and Ripple work. Alternatives are being sought. Ongoing work is planned for the EL.