Yambarra Project
The Yambarra Tenements comprises a group of 8 granted exploration licences and 5 exploration licence applications that are mostly contiguous and which are located entirely within the Daly River Aboriginal Reserve. This area is located approximately 150 km’s to the south of the Rum Jungle uranium deposits.
The Yambarra Tenements lie along a major tectonic zone that links the Pine Creek Orogen to the Halls Creek Mobile Belt, which hosts major mineral occurrences. Similar geological settings within the Yambarra Tenements where Proterozoic aged sediments unconformably overlay basement rocks, provide the potential for unconformity type uranium mineralisation.
No exploration specifically aimed at locating uranium has been undertaken on the Yambarra Tenements since the early 1970s. At that time a significant radiometric anomaly known as ‘Door Creek’ was investigated. A subsequent NTGS airborne radiometric survey revealed that the source of this anomaly, which is some 2.5km in length, may be associated with the faulted unconformity between the Fitzmaurice Group Sediments and the basement Hermit Creek Metamorphics. The full extent of this anomaly has not been tested and is a priority exploration target for Top End.
McArthur South Project
The McArthur South project area comprises a contiguous group of 7 granted exploration licences and 1 exploration licence application, situated in the southern McArthur Basin.
Significant uranium mineralisation has been discovered in the Pandanus Creek / Westmoreland uranium field which is located some 120km east south east of the project area. The uranium mineralisation in this area is primarily hosted in the basal Westmoreland conglomerate and to a lesser degree within the overlying Siegal Volcanics. Both of these units overlie Cliffdale Volcanics and the Murphy basement metamorphics. Based on a correlation of magnetic responses, it appears that Seigal Volcanics may extend to the west and into the southern tenements of the project area which may indicate the potential for Westmoreland type mineralisation on the project area.
Arnhem Land Project
The Arnhem Land project area comprises 4 granted exploration licences and 31 exploration licence applications. The project area lies to the east and south east of the East Alligator River uranium deposits and can be separated into a western and eastern limb. Within the western limb, key areas of interest for the Company include Nungbalgarri Creek, Liverpool River and Jimbu. The eastern limb key areas of interest include Mitchell-Flinders and Parsons Range.
Previous exploration for uranium in Arnhem Land occurred in the early 1970’s using geochemical sampling techniques and in some instances basic airborne geophysical systems. For approximately 20 years little or no uranium exploration took place. In the mid 1990’s exploration recommenced in some areas using more modern exploration techniques.
The Arnhem Land project areas that are closest to the East Alligator River uranium deposits (Ranger, Jabiluka, Koongarra, and Nabarlek) have the highest prospectivity for unconformity-type uranium deposits where the mineralisation is associated with the unconformity at the base of the Kombolgie Sandstone.
a) Western Limb - Areas of Interest within the Arnhem Land Project
The Nungbalgarri Creek area, situated 90km north east of Ranger Uranium Mine, and the Liverpool River area situated approximately 70km east south-east of the Nabarlek Uranium Mine are considered priority target areas for unconformitytype uranium mineralisation. Based on conceptual models there is also potential over a much wider area within the western limb for Westmoreland-type uranium mineralisation associated with mafic and other volcanic rocks occurring at shallower depths within the sediments which overlie the unconformity at the base of the Kombolgie Sandstone. The Jimbu area, located further to the south and approximately 100km south east of the East Alligator River Uranium Field, is similarly considered prospective for unconformity-type uranium mineralisation. The conceptual targets in this instance are higher in the sedimentary sequence where uranium could potentially be associated with intrusive mafic rocks based on the similarities in geological setting for uranium mineralisation observed in the Westmoreland area.
b) Eastern Limb - Areas of Interest within the Arnhem Land Project
Within the eastern limb area older basement rocks, equivalent in age to the Pine Creek Orogen basement rocks, have been thrust upwards along the Mitchell-Flinders Thrust Belt exposing an unconformity within the overlying sediments which are equivalent in age to the Kombolgie Subgroup sediments. This geological setting is considered analogous to that seen in the East Alligator River area, and hence has potential for unconformity-type uranium mineralisation. On the western side of the Thrust Belt, the regional NTGS airborne radiometric data reveals an isolated, narrow but well defined uranium only anomaly, associated with the faulted contact between the Parsons Range Group sediments and the Roper Group sediments. This distinct Parsons Range anomaly provides evidence that uranium mineralisation may be present in the sediments well above the basal unconformity. |
