Hatches Creek West EL 22912 and EL 23463 year 1 annual technical (report) 25 July 2007 to 24 July 2008

Abstract

The earliest recorded visit to the Hatches Creek district was made by H. Y. L. Brown (1896), who mentions (p. 10), the presence of 'a few quartz reefs containing solid oxides of iron.' Brown was followed a few years later by a prospecting expedition led by A. A. Davidson (1905). Davidson had several men prospecting for gold in the area, but although one of his employees, D. Pedlar, showed him a black mineral which is believed to have been wolfram, the discovery was not followed up. A second prospecting expedition (George & Murray, 1907) passed through the area in 1906 and recorded the presence of traces of copper carbonates, gold, and galena. Wolfram was not recorded. In 1913 Pedlar returned to the field, having obtained Government assistance of 50 pounds. He prospected a reef on Wolfram Hill, probably near Windy Point, and sent a sample of ore to Darwin; the ore assayed 53.7% W03 (Oliver, 1916). The first lease was registered by Hanlon and Warne in 1915 on the site of the present Treasure and Hidden Treasure leases. When T. G. Oliver visited the field in 1916 twenty men were working there. The British Government was providing a guaranteed market for wolfram at the time and production rose steadily to a maximum of 105 tons in 1920. The British Government ceased buying in 1919 and the price of wolfram dropped rapidly from 60/- per unit to about 11/- per unit in 1923. Recorded production from Hatches Creek ceased in 1923, and was not resumed for eight years. The accuracy of early figures is much in doubt and tonnages quoted should be considered as approximate only: communications were bad and many miners neglected to send in their returns. Not until 1948 were production figures taken from buyers' returns. Assay data were first obtained at about the same time. Until 1923 all wolfram had to be transported by camel to the railhead at Oodnadatta, 600 miles to the south in South Australia, or by similar transportation to Queensland. Official records show a total production to 1923 of 387 tons of wolfram valued at 65,623 pounds but this figure is almost certainly much lower than the true output. From 1923 to 1931 there was intermittent activity on the field, but not until 1931 was any further production (6.9 tons) recorded. Regular production recommenced in 1934. Between 1930 and 1932 some supposed gold-bearing reefs were discovered and examined in the Hatches Creek district (Ann. Rep. Administrator N.T., 1930-1932). Assays were reported to be promising but no development was undertaken. The price of wolfram started to rise in the early 1930's, and in 1937, owing to the Japanese invasion of China and German stockpiling of both standard and sub-grade wolfram (Li & Wang, 1947), the price reached an unprecedented height of 130/- a unit. The railhead had been extended to Alice Springs by then, and motor transport was readily available, which considerably aided the development of the field. The field boomed from 1937 to 1941, and at the height of the boom more than 200 miners were working at Hatches Creek. Production rose steadily to a maximum of 241 tons of concentrate in 1941 - about three-quarters of the wolfram production from the Northern Territory. The Hatches Creek West Project is comprised of a group of mineral tenements located in the central portion of the Northern Territory. The project is located about 325km northeast of Alice Springs and 160km southeast of Tennant Creek. Hatches Creek Pty Ltd (Thor Mining PLC) Hatches Creek West Project lies within the smaller southwest pair of tenements EL 22912 and EL 23463. Project lies within the smaller southwest pair of tenements EL 22912 and EL 23463. The Hatches Creek West Project is comprised of a group of mineral tenements located in the central portion of the Northern Territory. The project is located about 325km northeast of Alice Springs and 160km southeast of Tennant Creek. Hatches Creek Pty Ltd (Thor Mining PLC) Hatches Creek West Project lies within the smaller southwest pair of tenements EL 22912 and EL 23463. It contains the historical Hatches Creek mining field, which was known as the Hatches Creek Wolfram Field, within which numerous mines exploited quartz veins containing wolframite, a tungsten mineral. Mining of eluvial deposits containing wolframite and of gold and copper also occurred. Mineralisation in the Hatches Creek area occurs as narrow quartz veins (up to 1.5m thick and extending up to 200m in individual lenses) hosting exceptionally high grade tungsten as wolframite crystals several centimetres in length in most cases. Virtually all veins visited at old prospects and exploration pits had visible wolframite evident. Historical underground mining at most prospects has been very efficient and removal of vein material has been extensive. In May a native title access meeting held at Hatches Creek Project approved a rock chip and mapping program, completed to assist with planning of the proposed RC program. A total of 174 rock chip samples were taken over old workings and from abandoned stockpiles associated with the historic mining centre. Samples were sent to Amdel in Adelaide for prep and pulps were then sent to the Perth laboratory for assay including Au, Ba, Fe, Mo, Sn, W, Cu Ni, Pb, Ag, and Bi. The traditional owners have no problem with re clearing of the old access tracks (now over 50 years old and badly damaged). There also appears to be no problem with working around existing prospects as the amount of disturbed ground is extensive in some cases. Two traditional owners who live nearby on an outstation (Stanley Holmes and John Wickham) assisted with reconnaissance work for a few days due to their wealth of local knowledge.