An area of the northern Cowell Hills was taken up to explore for possible economic basement-hosted copper-gold mineralisation of epigenetic style, analogous to that found at the Ernest Henry deposit, which may be associated with magnetic anomalies and inferred fold structures formed in the vicinity of large buried Hiltaba Suite granite plutons. Due to a discovery of minor such mineralisation through drilling done by the licensee Avoca Resources at the Glensea prospect on its adjacent Cowell EL 3016 to the south-east, the majority of exploration activity was concentrated there, and no field work took place on the subject licence during the period 2003-2007. After Stellar Resources farmed into the subject tenement during early 2007, looking to explore it for IOCG-U or Ernest Henry type Cu-Au mineralisation formed within basement lithologies, and also for any possible palaeochannel and basement hosted uranium mineralisation, that company interpreted the available aeromagnetic data and defined a number of magnetic anomalies lying adjacent to the Charleston Granite, which are associated with regional faulting and inferred folding considered prospective for breccia hosted Cu-Au mineralisation. A field reconnaissance mapping trip was undertaken during late 2007, but no alteration or signs of mineralisation that could be associated with a mineralised breccia system were seen in the granite and gneiss outcrops visited. At a number of locations, Quaternary – Tertiary cover and more Recent aeolian sands cover defined target areas. A number of drill sites were pegged, but due to drilling difficulties later experienced elsewhere in the JV project area, that caused subsequent drill rig time constraints, planned drill testing of defined aeromagnetic targets was not undertaken. Future drill testing of these anomalous geophysical features was recommended. During September 2008, part of a larger airborne EM (RepTEM) survey was flown over EL 3148 by Geosolutions for Stellar. 32.5 line km coverage was flown along 11 east-west flight lines. No field work took place during 2009. The following year, after Gingertom Resources took over exploration management and shifted the exploration focus onto looking for sediment-hosted uranium mineralisation, an initial campaign of exploratory rotary mud drilling was undertaken as part of a regional program intended to define sedimentary depositional environments, redox fronts and basement structures. 15 vertical holes with a total penetration of 1675 m were completed on renewed EL 4242 across the northern licence sub-block, and then were wireline geophysically logged with a calibrated natural gamma ray probe. Results of the radioactivity logging indicated that Tertiary sedimentary uranium mineralisation of the type seen at the Plumbush prospect on adjoining EL 3652/4979 extends south-westwards into the subject EL 4242. Drillhole cuttings samples were collected over 2-metre intervals for geological logging, but were not assayed as the sampling method used was not statistically valid. Several important environmental scientific studies of biota and hydrology were carried out on portions of EL 4242 during 2010-2011. This was part of establishing the feasibility for a proposed in-situ recovery uranium extraction field trial at the Blackbush Prospect, which lies nearby to the north-northeast within EL 3652. Included reports on the studies comprise: - UraniumSA, 2010. Referral under the EPBC Act. 23 November 2010. - URS, 2010. Hydrology Baseline Investigation, Mullaquana Uranium Project. Prepared for UraniumSA by URS Australia Pty Ltd on 29 June 2010. - EBS Ecology, 2010. Mullaquana Flora and Fauna Baseline Survey. Prepared for UraniumSA Ltd by Environmental & Biodiversity Services on 12 February 2010. - EBS Ecology, 2010. Mullaquana Additional Bird Survey. Prepared for UraniumSA Ltd by Environmental & Biodiversity Services on 19 April 2010. - EBS Ecology, 2011. Mullaquana Follow-up Flora and Fauna Survey. Prepared for UraniumSA Ltd by Environmental & Biodiversity Services on 2 February 2011. During September 2011, an additional 3 vertical rotary mud holes for 210 m were drilled by UraniumSA within the NW corner of the northern licence sub-block, to infill the three previous drill traverses and provide information about lateral continuation of the mineralised strata. In January 2012, a detailed airborne magnetic helimag survey was flown across all three sub-blocks of EL 4242, for a total coverage of 8126.2 line km. The east-west flight lines were variously 200 m or 100 m apart in the initial survey coverage, and these were later infilled to 50 m or 25 m spacing over parts of the central licence sub-block, with readings taken at ~1.8 m intervals along them using a mean sensor elevation of 30 m above the ground surface. For the 2012-2013 reporting year, USA informed DMITRE that it had not undertaken any field work owing to the need to address ongoing issues around land access denial involving certain landowners. A draft negotiated Code of Conduct remains to be finalised which should allow for future land entry. Rehabilitation of previous drill sites and used tracks has been completed, largely to the satisfaction of affected parties. For the 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 reporting years, USA informed DMITRE/DSD that it had not undertaken any field work because of continuing land access denial issues involving a Warden’s Court action that was re-opened by local landowners, for which a formal hearing is pending. Stellar/Hiltaba also did no field work during this period. Tenure of the south-western sub-block of the licence (Area 'C') plus a portion on the north-western side of Area "B" was dropped in a fourth partial surrender made upon renewal in March 2017, reducing the area of EL 5426 from 134 square km to 100 square km [see Env 13032].