Adelaide Resources Limited made application early in 2005 for PACE Initiative Year 2 drilling project funding to test a highly regarded multi-element geochemical anomaly (the Empire prospect) located on its EL 2869, which had been defined by previous explorers' calcrete sampling. The funding application was successful and, as a drilling rig had been secured and was immediately available, the project was completed in the 2004-05 financial year. EL 2869 is located on the northern Eyre Peninsula, and is centred to the north of the township of Wudinna. The area falls within the recently defined Central Gawler Gold Province. The Empire prospect geochemical anomaly was considered likely to be a reflection of either Middle Proterozoic (~1590 Ma) age mineralisation (c.f. the nearby Barns and Baggy Green gold deposits located to the west), or alternatively, of older mineralisation in a rock package similar to that described for the Hall Bay Volcanics sequence, which is known on southern Eyre Peninsula. The past calcrete geochemical surveys completed at Empire had defined a large coherent feature anomalous in Cu, Au, Zn, and Ni. Previous RAB drilling in the area completed by Adelaide Resources, and older reverse circulation drilling completed by WMC, had each intersected some interesting bedrock geochemical anomalism and alteration; however, all these drillholes had failed to adequately explain the geochemical feature. The Empire prospect falls within the confines of Pinkawillinie Conservation Park, a large multiple-land-use park which covers mallee scrublands lying south of the Gawler Ranges. Mineral exploration and mining is allowed within Pinkawillinie subject to the approval of both PIRSA and DEH. The Empire drilling project was conducted under the authority of a current and approved Declaration of Environmental Factors. In March and April 2005 a total of 44 RAB hammer drillholes for 3827 m were drilled on five traverses to further test the Empire target. Anomalous intervals of gold and arsenic, and weakly anomalous copper, zinc and nickel, were intersected. The peak values of these latest bedrock drill sample assays are higher than the best geochemical results obtained from the previous drilling, however, it remains doubtful that they are of sufficient magnitude to fully explain the presence of the extensive Empire geochemical anomaly, and thus the origin of this feature remains enigmatic.