Annual report on EL 9874 Namatjiras for 2010

Abstract

EL 9874 (2 blocks) was granted on the 12 August 2008 following application in 1996 and 1998 to the NTG and appropriate approvals by the Central Land Council. The field season commenced in May 2009 commensurate with cooler desert weather and continued at about the same time in 2010 over the May to July-August period. A Mineral Claim was pegged over the azurite containing formation exposed in the adit at the end of the field season for the purposes of producing specimens in known zones of high quality and to further exploration in the adit. Due to problems with finding rental accommodation in Alice Springs (ie a house with parking for two 4WD vehicles and trailer for a short term rental), Darwin became the exploration base for field work carried out on the EL in 2010. Alice Springs was utilised in 2009 when short term housing, or housing of any sort, was much more available. A fly camp was set up on the waste rock dump for the duration of the 3 month field season. Field work was carried out over May, June and July 2010 from the Darwin house rental base, consisting of 4 days of travelling and 7 full days of exploration work in the adit. Maureen Hughes (D. McLaughlin's wife) provided field camp support and specimen handling services and Tim Hughes was flown in from Hobart to Alice Springs for the last week on site to assist with waste rock handling and specimen extraction work. Detailed sampling continued in the adit over the May-June-July period as in 2009 and new perspectives were gained on the distribution and nature of the copper mineralisation. The Expenditure Covenant was achieved, but much of the cost was in vehicle travel to the tenement. The focus of 2010 exploration was on continuing a sampling decline down the southern dip of the anticlinal limb in an area of azurite mineralisation. This report is about the outcomes of this work, which has lead to the justification to apply for a Mineral Claim. There was no surface disturbance of the land by exploration in 2010 as the old open cut in front of the adit showed that azurite mineralisation was tied to a kaolinite lense contained within sandstone and that any economic mineral specimen exploration needed to be aimed well out of weathered regolith ie within the adit. Detailed location information is provided on NTG files in a November 2004 application to the Central Land Council and copied to NTG Mines. The EL is approached via gravel roads to the Areyonga Aboriginal Community (Utju). A rough 4WD 15 kilometre track proceeds from the end of the Areyonga airstrip through a long valley to the EL. The Utju/Areyonga Council is advised of each entry to the land and departure from the EL, so they are aware of who is in the valley at any time. At least 2 years of reserves for azurite specimen production have been identified in the sampling decline based on a mining effort of removing 16 cubic metres per year. Sixteen cubic metres is typical of the volume of rock removed for exploration purposes during the year. Excavating west and east along the strike of the hanging wall on the edge of the silicified slump feature would yield a range of different types of commercial azurite specimens. To assist the process of azurite sun mineral economic assessment some processed mineral specimens have been put out in the international and Australian market to obtain a perspective on potential returns to the project under a mining environment. The specimens are marketed as originating from the Malbunka copper mine, the name of the patrilineal estate owners. Copper mineralisation is far too sparse and of too low a volume to support a metal mine. This was demonstrated by past exploration involving open cutting and the construction of the adit by miners under previous mineral claims.