MCN 671 McKeddies Prospect annual report January 2008 to December 2008

Abstract

Mining claim MCN 671 was acquired by Whitvista Pty Ltd in 2006. The original grant date was 17th November 1983. Mining Claim Number 671 consists of 8 hectares. The claim was due for expiry on 31st December 2008. Apogei Pty Ltd held this claim in recent years and now Yellow Rock Resources Limited holds 20% of Apogei Pty Ltd at the time of writing this report. Yellow Rock Resources limited is the operating partner of the licence. McKeddies Prospect is situated about 160 kilometres southeast of Darwin, NT. Access to the area is through the main road (Stuart Highway) to Pine Creek and thereafter 46 kilometres northwards on minor roads and tracks via Esmeralda and Frances Creek. Field work undertaken during the anniversary year was conducted on a fly-camp basis and no local accommodation or community facilities were used. There are no Registered or Recorded Aboriginal Sacred Sites on the claims (AAPA letter of 15th October 2007). Gold exploration in the Pine Creek Goldfields led to the discovery of alluvial gold at McKeddies Prospect in 1900. Over the next five years a large quantity of gold was extracted from pits, trenches and flats by sluicing, jig tables and dry-blowing. This produced mainly coarse nugget gold or high grade open pit ore. The work was mainly completed by various private prospectors. Three costeans were cut by Mineral Resources Corporation Pty Ltd (MRC) and in partnership with Union Oil Development Company (UODC) the trenches and surrounding area was geologically mapped, logged and sampled in 1986. UODC identified an auriferous quartz vein stockwork containing 8g/t Au over a 15 metre zone in siltstone and interest in the area increased. Although no official resource was estimated the tonnage of mineralised material was said to be in excess of 625,000 tonnes. Samples were sent to Amdel in Darwin and assays were mainly for gold and arsenic with some for copper-lead-zinc-silver. Uranium or REE assays were not recorded. Lack of permanent water, lack of public company interest, a low gold price and isolation from the main gold mining centres deterred further exploration at McKeddies until the 1990's. By 1993 surface mapping and sampling by MRC provided several additional good gold assays. This led to the building of dams and a reservoir on site in preparation for a drilling program. However, the planned drilling did not eventuate due to a downturn in the gold price. Exploration work conducted on the McKeddies Prospect during the period ending 31st December 2008 included: - GPX airborne geophysical survey - Review of historic tenement mapping data - Review of NTGS regional geology maps covering the area - Review of NTGS and public geophysics images for the area. Airborne Survey results are not yet to hand. When available a full interpretation of magnetic and radiometric structures can be completed.