The three licences comprising the Challenger West Project were taken up principally to explore for economic gold, which could possibly occur in strike extensions of known gold lodes formed within Archaean basement rocks that constitute the Challenger deposit, as the subject ground lies only from 10 to 50 km west and south-west of the currently producing Challenger gold mine. Several significant surface calcrete gold geochemical anomalies identified by previous explorers formed the initial targets requiring follow-up by detailed surface sampling and/or drilling. Some of these anomalies are associated with structural lineaments in the basement rocks, interpreted as major faults or shear zones. Also recognised in the area are strong coincident gravity and aeromagnetic anomalies with potential for representing buried iron oxide - associated copper-gold (IOCG) mineralisation of Olympic Dam or Prominent Hill type. On 24/6/2005, Hindmarsh Resources signed a joint venture agreement with then Project licensee Southern Gold to earn up to 80% of the rights to any uranium resources which might be present on the three tenements, by spending up to $500,000 over 42 months on a separate uranium exploratory programme of work. The target here was roll-front type sedimentary uranium mineralisation that might possibly be present in Tertiary palaeochannel units of the Eucla Basin regolith sequence. Early work by Genex Resources and then Southern Gold focussed on the Garford prospect, 30 km distant from Challenger, which is a previously defined but open ended, high order gold-in-calcrete anomaly that coincides with a north-east trending linear magnetic high. Interpretation of detailed ground magnetic data suggests that this anomaly is the magnetic expression of a south-easterly dipping shear zone. Two other high order gold-in calcrete anomalies identified by earlier explorers at Blowout (up to 39 ppb Au) and Contender (up to 21 ppb Au), respectively 8 and 13 km north of Indooroopilly Bore, were also favoured for prompt infill calcrete sampling and RAB drilling. During March 2004 Southern Gold acquired a detailed aeromagnetic/radiometric survey over the above three prospects on EL 3080 (5166 line km flown at 100 m x 1 km line spacing and 50 m mean terrain clearance, as infill to previous 400 m spaced regional coverage). In the same month, a geological review and prospectivity assessment was commissioned from consultants David Tonkin and Associates. Their report noted that EL 3097 contains a significant magnetic and gravity domain of 5 km x 10 km extent at West Point Hill. An earlier single test drillhole located on its margin had established the presence of iron-altered granites similar to those present at Olympic Dam. It was suggested that observed variations in the relative magnetic and gravity responses at West Point Hill are encouraging for the possible presence of a prospective haematite envelope to buried IOCG style mineralisation. No field work took place on any of the Project licences during the first half of 2005, while plans were made to undertake RAB traverse drilling, and while progression of a uranium exploration joint venture with Hindmarsh Resources was being finalised. An unsuccessful application was made for PACE Initiative funding subsidy of a proposed 2400 m RC drilling programme at the West Point Hill prospect to test an interpreted combined magnetic and gravity feature. During 2005-2006 Southern Gold collected 529 calcrete samples over thirteen selected prospect grids to explore for gold, plus 19 rock chip and soil samples along the shores of Lake Anthony to test an airborne radiometric anomaly, and also completed 109 RAB drillholes for a total penetration of 3827 m during May 2005, to appraise the geochemical anomalies at Garford, Blowout and Contender prospects. At the Garford magnetic ?shear trend, drillholes spanning a 500 m length of it encountered anomalous bedrock copper and gold values, including a 100 m long zone averaging 0.1% Cu (and having 8 m @ 0.1 g/t Au) in rocks that appear similar to those mined at Challenger. Another 5 km of strike length of the magnetic feature remained untested, requiring detailed calcrete sampling to help define further RAB drilling targets. The shallow RAB drilling completed at Blowout and Contender was disappointing, with only weak bedrock gold values returned. No other gold exploration was undertaken on any of the subject licences until July 2009, when Southern Gold investigated the Nemesis prospect on Garford EL 4161 by undertaking calcrete sampling (81 samples), partial leach soil sampling (225 samples) and surface lag sampling (4 samples) at firstly 400 m x 400 m spacing, closing down to 200 m x 200 m over anomalous zones. This was followed in April 2010 by RAB drilling on a 100 m x 100 m grid (37 holes for a total penetration of 1350 m), but no significant gold intercepts were made. Hindmarsh Resources commenced its uranium search on the Challenger West Project ground by acquiring a ground gravity survey of 105 stations near Half Moon Lake in November 2005, and by performing traverse drilling of 76 vertical aircores holes for 3984 m over the period March-June 2006 to evaluate Tertiary palaeochannel sediments that had been broadly mapped using available DEM, remote sensing and geophysical data. Gravity data seemed to give the best definition of more deeply buried portions of the channels. The drillholes were wireline logged with a gamma ray tool, and 2236 drill cuttings samples taken at selected intervals were assayed for uranium and thorium. The initial drillhole spacing along the traverses was at 800 m. This was closed to 400 m where anomalous radioactivity was indicated by the downhole gamma probe, or where favourable geology such as a thicker channel section or sediment fill comprising pyritic sands, lignite or oxidised channel sands was encountered. Where there were further encouraging gamma log results at this hole spacing, infill drilling to 200 m was carried out. Many of the 2006 programme drillholes revealed anomalous radioactivity. The log peaks were thought to represent two geological contexts: • Redox conditions at the base of shallow multi-coloured sands (less than 20 m thick) overlying grey pyritic clay • Redox conditions at the base of oxidation in the modern climatic environment. The highest gamma log readings, in raw counts per second, were: Indooroopilly (hole 06ACIN28), 120 cps; Garford (hole 06ACGA14), 110 cps; Half Moon Lake (hole 06ACHM20), 102 cps. In some situations, it was believed that a double peak log maximum reading could represent the presence of a roll-front uranium deposit (e.g. over the depth interval 26-28 m in hole 06ACIN14 on Line IND#4). However, the subsequent assaying of face sampled aircore drill material revealed only low concentrations of uranium and thorium (maximum 90 ppm U in hole 06ACHM20, and 150 ppm Th in hole 06ACIN29). During November 2006 to May 2007 Hindmarsh Resources carried out a second round of drilling on palaeochannel targets spread across the Challenger West Project licences, this time using a rotary mud rig to complete a total of 78 holes for an aggregate penetration of 3872 m. Most of the drillholes were sited along north-south aligned transects at either 400 m or 800 m spacing, closing down to 200 m where zones of interest were identified. Widespread anomalous radiation was detected along the upper surface of lignite deposited in the Anthony Palaeochannel on EL 3097, where downhole geophysical logs revealed numerous elevated gamma log readings, with a peak value of 848.6 cps coming from 20.5 m depth in open drillhole 07RMIN025. Drillhole sample assaying showed that the elevated gamma log readings represent mineralisation having a mixture of uranium and thorium in varying ratios of at least between 10:1 and 1:15. By contrast, however, only low concentrations of uranium appear to have moved through the Garford Palaeochannel on EL 3080, and consequently it was suspected that no large source of uranium may exist near this palaeochannel. A maximum gamma ray log reading of 142.3 cps was obtained from within sand and clay at 24.22 m depth in hole 07RMGA008. Twelve traverses of detailed gravity readings taken 200 and 400 m apart (at 215 stations) were acquired during March-April 2007, before the drilling commenced, to see if gravity methods could identify the palaeochannels. The resulting gravity data mapped out variations in the crystalline basement. In the Garford area, this variation defined the Eocene and older channels, whereas in the Anthony area, it marked the base of weathered basement, rather than palaeochannel fill. As part of the 2007 drilling phase, many of the holes were drilled on the Anthony Palaeochannel with the aim of trying to understand its geology. it was found that the channel is not deeply buried, having a maximum base depth of around 60 m. Lignite is scattered throughout the channel in a mainly unconnected way, but predicting where it may be found has proved very difficult. The palaeochannel fill appears to be dominated by weathered basement, characterised as a white to pale green coloured clay with minor to strong saprock fragments common throughout. Where the weathered basement was penetrated, the overlying regolith has a false channel structure with no channel sediments present. Palynological analyses of drill cuttings confirmed an Eocene age for the lignite stratum (Pidinga Formation) and a much older age, which is at least Cretaceous, for the underlying channel referred to as the Palaeozoic channel. The MegA uranium prospect in the Anthony Palaeochannel on EL 3308 was discovered from drilling in a region where lignite, with an increased gamma spike at the top surface, had earlier been identified. With further drilling Mega Hindmarsh discovered that a north-south trending fault is present there, with lignite on one side of it and weathered basement on the other, but with a very similar depth to actual fresh basement evident on both sides of the fault. One of the drillholes intersected a palaeochannel sand unit with lignitic rip-up clasts contained within it and an elevated gamma signature (maximum reading 809 cps) associated with it. It is thought that this channel section, that heads westwards from the fault, possibly originated from a nick point on the fault itself. Having uranium mineralisation deposit on the surface of an undisturbed lignite bed would never be economic, but having a small erosive channel with lignite clasts remnant within the sand could potentially form a very good mineralisation locus. It was found that a number of drillholes within MegA have a cavity developed directly above the lignite beds, that in places is up to 2 m thick. Consequently it is believed possible that a recently active open fault carrying uraniferous water is directly feeding into this small channel. A maximum uranium assay value of 77 ppm U was returned from the depth interval 22-24 m in drillhole 07RMIN015. Two new targets zones close to MegA, identified as MegB and MegC, have a similar overlying vegetation species anomaly to that seen at MegA. MegA is dominated by dense Melaleuca shrubland, whereas the surrounding region is dominated by mulga and pearl bluebush. Whether the presence of similar dense vegetation is only a regolith surface - determined feature or is related to lignite and/or uranium buried deeper below was recommended for testing in future drilling programmes. A re-assessment made late in 2007 by Mega Hindmarsh of the uranium exploration programmes underway in its Eucla JV Project acreage concluded that all of the best historical and current uranium mineralised intercepts occur at shallow depths of approximately 20 m. However, hitherto the targeting methods used had been indirect and very expensive. Therefore the company decided to utilise in their place a regional geochemical exploration method which would be a direct and cheap pathfinder to uranium. Initially, field trials which sampled vegetation over known low-grade uranium occurrences produced very good results. However, the anomalies were very specific spatially, limiting their value during the regional phase of exploration, but confirming their usefulness at the target definition stage. A new method with a larger detection ’halo’ was obviously needed. Kangaroo scat biogeochemical sampling was the method chosen to fit this revised exploration requirement. During March-April 2008 360 scat samples were collected at sites approximately 3.2 km apart and assayed for a wide range of pathfinder elements. Despite an unavoidable factor of age variation in the scats collected, the necessarily low order geochemical results were deemed encouraging and highlighted the potential of the method when they revealed coherent zones of “elevated” and “anomalous” uranium, gold and many other elements of economic interest, although they did also show significant landform effects, particularly in places where there is extensive sand sheet and dune coverage, thus emphasising the importance of considering regolith and landform when interpreting results. Highlights of the survey were the identification of an 80 ppb U anomaly on the northern edge of the Garford Palaeochannel, which apparently extends with lower tenor out across the palaeovalley, and clearly requires follow-up; the MegaA prospect occurrence within the Anthony Palaeochannel was also detected, over about 10 square km, by geographically clustered and therefore presumed authentic >40 ppb U values, to a maximum of 110 ppb U.