Annual and Surrender Report EL 30339 Darwin Glauconite Project for the period 15 October 2015 to 18 November 2016

Abstract

EL 30339 was granted on 15 October 2015 and relinquished on 18 November 2016. It was one of two other applications made in the Darwin region in the search for the mineral glauconite as a source of the fertiliser commodity potash. A thin glauconite layer is known to occur at the base of the Cretaceous sequence in the greater Darwin region. This unconformity was regionally mapped in the Dundee area on EL 30339 and elsewhere in the Darwin region, where traces of the glauconite unit were identified. No sampling was undertaken on EL 30339. Field observations indicate this glauconite unit is strongly lateritised and grab samples from the Darwin region indicate it is heavily leached of potassium. It was concluded this unit has no value as a source for potash, and consequently EL 30339 was surrendered.