A large area centred ~60 km west of Coober Pedy has been explored by licensee Afmeco for possible buried economic primary epithermal/hydrothermal uranium mineralisation that may have formed in Proterozoic or Archaean metamorphosed basement rocks. As a test of inferred possible buried Olympic Dam or East Alligator River type host geological settings newly interpreted from gravity data, a 1500 line km detailed aerial magnetic/radiometric survey was flown north-west of Coober Pedy in December 1980, and a structural model for covered basement was prepared after interpreting the new airborne geophysical data. However, the subsequent aircore/NQ diamond tail drilling and wireline gamma ray logging of 4 vertical holes (total 874 m) to penetrate and sample basement, which was successful only in the case of hole WF1 (~ ?7.4 m of biotite gneiss basement was cut), due to problems with encountering broken ground, gave no encouragement to further a search for uranium in the Mabel Creek High area. The basement in the places drilled was indicated to probably generally lie much deeper than had been prognosed by the successive geophysical interpretations made for the railway seismic survey, the gravity survey, and the latest aeromagnetic survey, perhaps lying at ca. 250 m rather than at 50 to 100 m. A total thickness of 150 m to 250 m of Permian Arckaringa Basin sediments was encountered, thickening towards the north. Only very thin coal partings and more commonly fine carbonaceous shales were logged in the holes.