An area covering most of the northern outcropping Peake and Denison Ranges basement inliers was taken up by Pancontinental Mining to test for possible economic occurrences of lead-zinc and copper-gold mineralisation (broadly matching Mount Isa Block, Eastern Succession styles) within the Mesoproterozoic basement sequence, and for any economic gold occurrences related to the Cambrian monzonitic intrusive rocks. The area had been applied for on the basis of inferred likely age correlations between basement sequences in the Peake and Denison Inliers and the Mount Isa Inlier. A proposed 600 km strike slip fault offset of these originally contiguous inliers supported the correlations. The structural setting of the subject licence along the G2 lineament corridor was also a major factor in gauging its prospectivity. The history of previous mineral exploration in the area was reviewed, and aeromagnetic data for three previous airborne surveys totalling 24,000 line km was re-processed and interpreted. Recognition of features of interest lying to the east of EL 1844 led to Pancontinental making an application in 1993 for grant of a second licence (issued as EL 1925 on 1/6/1994). A detailed interpretation of Landsat thematic mapper imagery, both from a structural and rock alteration perspective, was commissioned from consultant Peter Wilson and Associates of Perth, WA. In March 1994 University of Queensland, Department of Earth Sciences postgraduate student Derek Hopper commenced a PhD study relevant to EL 1844, entitled 'The Mid to Late Proterozoic Peake and Denison Block, South Australia: crustal evolution, geotectonic comparisons with the Mount Isa Block, and metallogenic implications". To better constrain stratigraphic comparisons with the Mount Isa Block, six samples were submitted to geochronological contractor Mark Fanning at the Australian National University for high precision dating of zircon grains. Uranium/lead dates were obtained which gave a more precise age for the Tidnamurkuna Volcanics (1780 Ma, equivalent to that of the Argylla Volcanics of the Mount Isa Block), showed that the Wirriecurrie Granite granodiorite rocks are of approximately the same age (1790 Ma), indicated the presence of 1530 Ma granites, and gave a more precise age for the Bungadillina Monzonite (497 Ma). A major helicopter-supported field work programme was completed in October 1994, which involved reconnaissance geological mapping, ground follow-up of satellite TM anomalies, rock chip sampling and a detailed BLEG stream sediment survey. Low level BLEG gold anomalies were recorded in streams draining the Mount Denison Inlier, and a potentially significant find of copper-gold mineralisation associated with haematitc granite breccias was made in the vicinity of Mount Kingston North (with assay values of up to 2% Cu and 0.25 g/t Au). This mineralised zone has a strike length of 1800 m and is up to 85 m wide, and lies immediately adjacent to the faulted contact between the basement and Adelaidean rocks on the eastern side of the Mount Denison Inlier. Detailed rock chip sampling (617 samples) defined two main subzones to the mineralisation with grades of 1.2% Cu over 5 m widths (0.1% Cu over 85 m), and exploratory diamond drilling was proposed for both, the programme to consist of three 200 m core holes each inclined 70 degrees east. After several months' delay occasioned by obtaining a suitable drilling rig and the necessary Aboriginal site clearances, drilling of the prospect commenced in late June 1995. Early results from drillhole KNDH001, completed on 28/6/1995, revealed that the style of mineralisation present in the subsurface at this prospect is similar to that seen in outcrop, with minor chalcopyrite-pyrite evident within haematite-cemented breccia zones. Core sample grades, on average, were disappointing, except for a 6 m thick interval @ 0.31% Cu below 104 m depth. Meanwhile, during late 1994 and early 1995, Pancontinental Mining continued with other field work on both ELs 1844 and 1925, which comprised ongoing geological mapping, reconnaissance geochemical sampling (168 samples) and follow-up detailed geochemical sampling (~300 samples) at Algebuckina and along the northern margin of the Mount Denison Inlier. Attention focussed mainly on the medium to high grade, folded metamorphic rocks present at Mount Kingston, Peake Ruins, and the Mount Denison / Coppertop Hill localities which had been surface mined in the historic past, but the work also included investigation of smaller inliers at Algebuckina, Lagoon Hill and Spring Hill / Levi Hill. To facilitate the mapping, 1:10,000 scale aerial photography was flown over the northern parts of both ELs in early 1995. Although there are a few small historic copper workings in the Peake Ruins area and west of Mount Kingston, no substantial new prospects could be delineated at these localities. Detailed rock chip sampling conducted in the vicinity of abandoned small copper workings west of Coppertop Hill failed to confirm early indications of trace surface gold. The historic workings there are sited largely on small and quite local quartz vein systems, but Pancontinental Mining recognised that copper-bearing tuffaceous sediments at the structural base of the mafic volcanic sequence, containing ca. 1.2% Cu, are more continuous along strike and thus are worthy of further exploration. Detailed rock chip sampling done at Algebuckina was also unable to confirm indications of trace gold initially identified in altered calc-silicate rocks, and the early anomalous assay results were later suspected to have arisen from laboratory contamination of samples or from sample mixing. To date, the mapping and rock chip sampling programmes completed in the Mount Denison, Algebuckina and Spring Hill inliers have downgraded the IOCG prospectivity of EL 1844. However, ongoing research into the regional geological characteristics has served to strengthen the case for correlating the Peake and Denison basement rocks with those of the Cloncurry Terrain of north-western Queensland. Consequently, there remains fundamental metallogenic potential in the region, particularly with regard to the magnetic complex (composed of granitoids, metasediments and metavolcanics, interpreted to be of Cloncurry Terrain age) covering about 1000 square km east of the Margaret Inlier. This area is almost entirely covered by Mesozoic sediments, and lies largely within EL 1925. The magnetic complex extends westward into EL 1844 in the vicinity of Spring Hill, where exposed Mesoproterozoic felsic volcanic rocks and metasediments display widespread albite-haematite-magnetite-calcsilicate alteration and evidence of minor igneous intrusive activity. No mineralisation appears in outcrop, which in area totals less than 3 square km. Magnetic anomalies occur in the buried basement south and east of Spring Hill, and it is intended that these will be evaluated along with other similar anomalies situated in the adjoining EL 1925. [ On 13/2/1995 the licensee requested that SADME approve it jointly reporting its future activities on ELs 1844 and 1925, which are effectively being explored in tandem; this approval was granted on 16/2/1995, to become effective from 12/7/1995, at the start of the next six-monthly statutory reporting period. The subsequently submitted joint annual reports are held separately to the subject dataset, in Env 8953. ]