An area lying immediately west of Port Lincoln and extending for ~10 km inland is being explored for buried occurrences of multiple metallic mineral commodities that may have been deposited within faulted, folded and metamorphosed Archaean basement rocks. A large regional antiformal structure that gives rise to the Greenpatch aeromagnetic anomaly, the largest and strongest magnetic anomaly on southern Eyre Peninsula, has been shown by previous detailed low level airborne magnetic and ground gravity surveys, plus limited RC drilling undertaken since 2002, to contain significant beds of high grade magnetite BIF lying within a drilled sequence of inter-banded BIF, dolomitic marble, diopside-quartz marble, diopside quartzite, calcsilicate gneiss, graphitic mica schist, amphibolite and gneiss. During the first licence year, no field work was done, but company personnel made several field trips there to reconnoitre the area's logistics and infrastructure (rail and transport). Consultant geophysicist Dr Duncan Cowan completed a study called “Aeromagnetic interpretation of Greenpatch / Gum Flat”. This study describes the results of data enhancement, analysis and preliminary interpretation of aeromagnetic data over the subject tenement. Consultant geologist Dr John Parker completed a draft report on the area's gold, base metal and uranium exploration potential, for Centrex Exploration (now Lincoln Minerals Ltd - LML), and he made recommendations for the next phase of exploration. An application was made for a grant of PACE Initiative collaborative drilling project funds to investigate the haematite iron ore potential of Hutchison Group BIF strata present in zones of reduced aeromagnetic intensity, in fault zones with clear evidence of magnetite destruction, and in favourable structural settings including fold hinges and complex fault patterns - eight targets were put forward for consideration. These targets also included associated possible secondary mineral occurrences of shallow, high grade direct shipping ore (DSO) haematite iron ore deposits >10 Mt, and possible shallow, high grade Tertiary channel iron deposits (CID). It was proposed to undertake a 64 hole, 6000 m aircore and/or slim-hole RC drilling programme over all of the identified haematite targets. At this time, it was thought by Centrex that at the local Rifle Range prospect on the subject EL 3422, a probable exploration target for primary Archaean stratabound BIF iron ore could be more than 250 Mt at grades of 30-50% Fe. During licence Year 2, initial on-ground activity comprised regional calcrete orientation geochemical sampling (89 samples collected at 500 m centres) to determine if the local calcrete profile was suitable for entrapping base metal pathfinder elements. The results were disappointing, with no assay values returned that were above background, so the use of this method on EL 3422 was abandoned by LML. In August 2007, 83 angled aircore/slim-line RC drillholes were completed by LML over haematite targets for a total penetration of 4416 m: the average depth of drilling was 50-60 m. Eight separate zones of significant iron mineralisation were encountered within a folded BIF bedrock sequence and overlying locally pisolitic ferruginous sediments. These zones lie along a series of aeromagnetic anomalies with an aggregate strike length of ~30 km that includes 5-6 km of high amplitude magnetic anomalies. At the Rifle Range prospect, there were several drill intersections averaging better than 30% Fe. Hole GFAC033 intersected 33 m of haematite BIF averaging 42.1% Fe from 18-51 m downhole, including 18 m @ 47.8% Fe from 24-42 m. Because this hole was declined at 60 degrees, the true depth to the top of mineralisation, and hence the thickness of the cover sediments, is only 15-16 m. Hole GFAC060, situated 1.2 km along strike to the south, intersected similar haematite mineralisation including 6 m @ 52.6% Fe from 30-36 m downhole. Weakly anomalous zinc, lead, copper and gold were present in several of the drillholes, including 0.3% Zn in GFAC013 (62-63 m) and GFAC030 (16-17 m), 0.15% Cu in GFAC020 (38-40 m), and 0.13 g/t Au in GFAC013 (63-64 m). Although no high grade DSO was identified by this inaugural drilling, LML was very encouraged by finding relatively shallow high grade BIF occurrences in an area that had never previously been drilled for iron ore. The observed iron grades and exploration target at Rifle Range were regarded as consistent with or better than those applicable to the known Greenpatch iron ore deposit (located ~5 km north-east of Rifle Range), where haematite BIF (33.7-38.6% Fe) overlies magnetite BIF ore (Centrex Metals Limited prospectus, 2006). The vertical depth of haematite oxidation at Greenpatch extends down to ca. 25-55 m below the surface. Centrex Metals’ earlier work done at the Greenpatch deposit [see Env 9473] had demonstrated that a high grade magnetite concentrate (69% Fe, 65% and low P, Al2O3 and SiO2 might be able to be produced by beneficiation of haematite BIF. The cost of beneficiation would be counter-balanced, at least in part, by the very low mine-to-port transport costs. Therefore a scoping study was begun to determine the feasibility and potential cost of haematite beneficiation, either as a stand-alone operation or if done in conjunction with a magnetite mining operation. During licence Year 3, in November-December 2007, LML conducted inclined diamond drilling on selected haematite/magnetite BIF targets (6 holes for 1566 m) and assayed the recovered drill core. The results were then used to inform re-modelling of the aeromagnetic data, which defined a large magnetite, now with lesser haematite, increased iron ore exploration target in the range of 200-400 Mt. The company's geophysical model for the 3.6 km long largest aeromagnetic anomaly defined a tabular body with an interpreted dip of 20-30º to the west. The exploration target figure calculation used assumptions for this body of 50 m true thickness, 25 m cover thickness, and a 75 m depth to the base of oxidation. In May 2008, LML acquired a detailed ground gravity survey of 321 stations within the Rifle Range prospect in two grid areas designated as Simpson and Barns, the former consisting of an irregular 100 m x 50 m grid and the latter of a single south-north line of 36 stations read 50 m apart. Many of the proposed station locations could not be occupied exactly due to the need to stay on lines that had been cleared through thick and often impenetrable scrub. Two of LML’s main exploration targets at Gum Flat are located in places where the floral ecosystem is subject to Vegetation Heritage Protection Agreements. A vegetation survey has been undertaken in these areas, and a Declaration of Environmental Factors was prepared for LML by independent consultants Sinclair Knight Merz, as part of a broader study that includes an assessment of the local hydrogeology and groundwater basins. From the latter work it was concluded that any exploratory drilling to occur across most of EL 3422 would be unlikely to transect any significant aquifers.