EL 29046 Fifth annual report for the period 3 July 2016 to 2 July 2017

Abstract

EL 29046 has been granted to GRIGM Resources Pty Ltd by NT Department of Mines and Energy on 3 July 2012 for a period of six years. Four episodes of exploration have been carried out, and this report summarises work carried out during the period July 3, 2016 to July 2, 2017. The license area locates in the northeast part of Amadeus Basin in the southern part of Northern Territory. The basin overlies basement of the Musgrave Province to the south and the Warumpi and Aileron provinces (Arunta Region) to the north. It is overlain by the Permian-Triassic Pedirka and Mesozoic Eromanga basins in the southeast, and by the younger Palaeozoic Canning Basin to the west. Sedimentation began in the Neoproterozoic in the Amadeus Basin and continued until the Late Devonian/Early Carboniferous. In the year 2015-2016, the outcrop of greenish copper-bearing siltstone/shale has been sampled and analyzed. Copper content averages at 1.55%. In the year 2016-2017, preliminary field investigation was carried out to prepare a small drilling project to test mineralisation below the weathered zone and check the lateral extension. Unfortunately as there are no other exploration activities going on nearby, the drilling team, as well as drill rig and the necessary supplies would have to travel from New South Wales or Queensland to the project area just for this small drilling job. Therefore the quoted drilling cost was sky high. Although the copper mineralisation identified in the area is stratiform style and extends steady along strike, but the copper concentration is relatively low (approx 1.55%) and the mineralised strata is not thick (generally less than 1m), these plus that the area is far from all facilities, it is not economically viable to carry out a drilling program under the current economic environment. To add value to the existing mineralisation and make the exploration project economically viable, field investigation and sampling have been carried out to investigate whether there is any gold and/or silver mineralisation associated with copper within the copper-bearing strata. The entire 12.5 km outcrop of Cu-bearing dolomitic siltstone/shale has been investigated. Samples have been used for gold and silver analyses, and also been used for Se and Te analyses to check whether there is any Te and/or Se anomaly. 27 samples have been analysed for Au and Ag content, and 18 samples for Te and Se content. Au concentration varies from 0.002 to 0.026ppm, averages at 0.01ppm, and that of Ag varies from 0.099 to 0.349ppm, averages at 0.233ppm. This is basically no economic significance. Selenium content in the analysed samples varies from 0.13 to 4.24ppm, averages at 0.55ppm. Tellurium content of the analysed samples varies from 0.12 to 0.29ppm, averages at 0.23ppm. No obvious correlation between Au-Se, and Au-Te has been identified. As only limited samples have been used in Tellurium and Selenium analyses, the results obtained here is not conclusive.