Exploration for possible economic heavy mineral sands carried out by Iluka Resources within the now relinquished portions of its multi-licence acreage has comprised aircore drilling of the Cainozoic sedimentary sequence (173 holes for a total...
Exploration for possible economic heavy mineral sands carried out by Iluka Resources within the now relinquished portions of its multi-licence acreage has comprised aircore drilling of the Cainozoic sedimentary sequence (173 holes for a total penetration of 3691 m) plus heavy mineral sampling of selected drillholes. Only one hole, YE1858 on EL 3322, encountered a few intervals with > 1% heavy minerals in an isolated small placer having limited strand length. Along the Ooldea Road in the west of the acreage, an additional 40 aircore holes for 118.75 m were drilled to investigate supplies of calcrete that could be suitable for use nearby as construction material in the planned Jacinth-Ambrosia mine. Another 10 drillholes for 772.6 m were put down to assess the availability of groundwater resources needed for minesite heavy mineral processing; this followed the flying in December 2005 of a helicopter-borne HoisTEM survey, at 2 km flight line spacing and 35 m mean terrain clearance, aiming to detect near-surface aquifers. Exploration for possible roll-front sedimentary uranium deposits formed within Tertiary palaeochannels was also undertaken by the licensee. Within the now relinquished ground, it acquired 1200 line km of airborne EM coverage at 500 m flight line spacing and 120 m mean terrain clearance in January 2008, to try to map buried palaeochannel systems. This was followed by the drilling of 38 aircore holes for a total penetration of 2228 m, to test inferred fluvial palaeochannel sediments, but none worth sampling were encountered.
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