As part of ongoing gold exploration being conducted in an area located approximately 60 km south-west of Kingoonya, Helix Resources and its joint venture partner Minotaur Exploration sought and were granted PACE Initiative Year 2 funding to test the results of an orientation trial of gradient IP surveying, to determine, in particular, its effectiveness at detecting variations in the sulphide content of the basement and regolith. The economic objective was to locate narrow, sericite-altered zones within the sheared granitoid basement rocks of the greater Tunkillia prospect that occupy a northwest-rotated part of the Yarlbrinda Shear Zone : such zones are known to host pyritic quartz veins carrying trace (to date) chalcopyrite, galena and gold. Test drill site locations were chosen based primarily on the intensity of IP anomalies, whilst also taking into consideration the location and results of previous drillholes and the latest structural interpretation of aeromagnetic data. A variety of targets was addressed on the basis of conductivity and resistivity contrasts observed within the weathered zone, at the weathered zone / fresh rock interface, and within fresh bedrock. For the PACE project six IP anomalous targets in the vicinity of known mineralisation at grid Areas 191 and 223 and at Tomahawk prospect were drilled over the period September 2005 - April 2006 (with 4 diamond holes for 992.4 m and 13 RC holes totalling 2564 m). The drilling was not very successful, because it showed that the gradient IP method is effectively unable to detect the narrow sulphide-bearing veins. The targeted anomalies appear to arise only from subtle variations in the pyrite and magnetite content of the various basement lithologies, and not from potentially economic metal concentrations. However, the diamond drilling, which was carried out on four of the proposed RC traverses, did provide some valuable information on basement lithologies and structural elements. In particular hole LED014, drilled to test a steep conductivity gradient to the north of Area 191, encountered significant bedrock alteration and extensive brecciation to approximately 100 m depth. Its core contains abundant evidence of multiple phases of brecciation and fluid movement (rebrecciated clasts of breccia, multi-phase veining, fracturing and offsetting of veins and altered granite clasts, etc.). The Area 191 alteration system is clearly much more extensive and complex than was previously thought. However, only traces of sulphides are present, and the results of drill core assays were disappointing.