Annual Technical Report EL 2455 for the period 12 October 2016 to 11 October 2017

Abstract

GEMCO was granted EL 2455 for the Southern Lease on 12 October 2016. This licence allows for six years in which to undertake exploration activities in the area. GEMCO mines manganese to the northwest of the lease and the exploration rationale is to target potential extensions of manganese mineralisation further south. In the first year, activities focused on obtaining work program approvals, environmental desktop and baseline studies, drilling and associated activities and geophysics. During the reporting period, desktop studies were undertaken to research and prepare a Mine Management Plan (MMP) for the authorisation of disturbance associated with exploration activities. A condition of this was to conduct environmental pre-clearance surveys to prevent the disturbance of sensitive fauna and flora while clearing tracks and pad. As part of the initial FY17 approved exploration program, clearing of 73 km of tracks and 269 pads was undertaken. A total of 294 RC drill holes were drilled for 11,545.5 m. Phase 1 consisted of regional drill holes along existing roads, while gridded patterns of 480mN x 480mE, to 240mN x 240mE were drilled over known manganese occurrences. A total of 3,276 drill chip samples were collected during the program. Results are pending and will be used to generate a geological model for the area. A ground penetrating radar (GPR) trial was also conducted along a 4.3 km line to test the reflectivity of the mineralised horizon.