Annual Report for EL 31284 year ending 14 December 2017

Abstract

EL 31284 was granted to Arafura Resources on 15 December 2016 for a period of six years. The tenement covers 73 blocks or 231.23 km2 and is located on the NAPPERBY 1:250,000 geological map sheet, about 30 km southwest of Aileron and 140 km northwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. EL 31284 is mostly covered by unconsolidated Quaternary units overlying the Cainozoic Whitcherry Basin and Palaeoproterozoic Arunta Region rocks. EL 31284 contains low-order airborne radiometric Th targets worthy first-pass exploration. The Th radiometric signature suggests a greater concentration of REE-enriched heavy minerals (e.g. monazite) may occur within the palaeochannels shedding off the nearby Reynolds Ranges. HM sampling and analysis was planned in mid-2017 to test for the presence of monazite-enriched sediments. Unfortunately, no exploration fieldwork occurred on EL 31284 in the reporting period because the company was focussed on the Supplemental Report for the Nolans project EIS. Three separate groundwater baseline monitoring trips were completed within EL 31284 during the reporting period. The monitoring results and detailed hydrological modelling of the area were presented in the Draft and Supplemental Report for the Nolans Project EIS.