An area of the Gawler Range Volcanic Province that straddles the southern portion of the Yarlbrinda Shear Zone, 80 km south of Kingoonya, and which contains mylonitised and sericite-altered Palaeoroterozoic intrusive rocks, was the target for three exploratory inclined RC drillholes put down within EL 2761 by Minotaur Exploration, with funding assistance obtained from PIRSA through its "PACE Initiative". The exploration strategy was to assess if iron oxide - associated copper - gold (IOCG) type mineralisation, similar in character to that of the Olympic Dam and Prominent Hill deposits, might also be present adjacent to the Yarlbrinda Shear Zone. This shear zone has a prolonged history of reactivation which would have served to focus hydrothermal activity. The drilling was planned to take place on gravity anomalies of 2-5 mGal amplitude, which are present near the Myall and Sheoak gold prospects lying within the intensely demagnetized shear zone; it was surmised that these vein-style prospects could in fact be peripheral gold-only mineralisation related to haematite-dominated IOCG deposits that are giving rise to the gravity anomalies. After Minotaur performed infill gravity surveys to firm up these objectives, the actual PACE Year 1 drilling programme, which totalled 767 m, addressed only the A4 anomaly situated near the Myall prospect, because those further south were considered to have reduced viability owing to limited surface evidence of veining and alteration. The three inclined RC holes that were drilled during June 2005 all penetrated into crystalline basement comprising coarse-grained granite, leucogranite, pegmatite, silica-rich mylonite, diorite and gabbro, all variably deformed, and all representing inferred Palaeoproterozoic Tunkillia or Saint Peter Suite lithologies. The presence of the mafic gabbro adequately accounts for the modest gravity anomalies. The predominant alteration mineral phase was found to be epidote rather than sericite, both for mafic and felsic lithologies, although some sericite alteration occurs. Besides coarse epidote, the veins contain calcite, chlorite, adularia and quartz, plus minor pyrite and rare trace chalcopyrite. No anomalous drillhole sample metal assay values were returned, and so the potential for any haematite-rich IOCG style mineralisation close to the Myall and Sheoak prospects has been downgraded.