Annual and final surrender report on EL 30672 Weedens Phosphate to 14 August 2018

Abstract

EL 30672, Weedens, was held to explore for Cambrian rock phosphate. Fourteen percussion holes drilled in the 1990s for under-cover Tennant Creek IOCG penetrated potentially prospective Cambrian sedimentary rocks. None of these were tested for phosphate. The Cambrian section was at least 60 m thick. These holes, in conjunction with extrapolation from outcrop, and a waterbore study, confirm that suitable Cambrian host rocks are present under all of the exploration area. The ground had only been held once previously for phosphate exploration, by Vale from 2010 to 2012. They drilled only three holes to 59 m max, 5 km apart, within the greater embayment, but all south of this EL. These holes spudded into mapped Gum Ridge Formation but intersected atypical lithologies including 25-35 m of sandstone, gravel and conglomerate overlying granite basement. This suggests that these holes were too close to the edge of the target formation or that the potentially phosphatic facies had been eroded. The area held as EL 30672 was considered more prospective. An AAPA Register Search and desktop studies, including the review of waterbore information, were undertaken in Year 1 prior to beginning negotiations for land access with the two pastoralists involved. Only desktop studies were undertaken in Year 2 and Year 3. During 2017 and 2018, the company's funds and resources were solely focused on the Feasibility Study and EIS for Ammaroo Phosphate Project further south in NT. An attempt to sell or JV EL 30672 was unsuccessful. Consequently, it was decided to surrender EL 30672 in full. The ground remains untested for phosphate.