An area centred ~150 km west of Coober Pedy has been explored for possible buried economic sandstone-hosted secondary uranium deposits which might have formed within eastwards-draining tributaries of the Tertiary Garford Palaeochannel. This...
An area centred ~150 km west of Coober Pedy has been explored for possible buried economic sandstone-hosted secondary uranium deposits which might have formed within eastwards-draining tributaries of the Tertiary Garford Palaeochannel. This palaeochannel system drains into the Tallaringa Trough, a prominent structure bound to the south by the arcuate, crustal scale Karari Fault. Within the Tallaringa Trough, Tertiary and older sediments infill what is essentially a downfaulted half-graben, and are juxtaposed against the Mulgathing Complex. Outcrop of potential Archaean uranium source rocks (Mulgathing Complex) is confined to the southern side of the Karari Fault. However, the subject area may also hold potential for primary uranium mineralisation associated with younger Kimban to Hiltaba age intrusive granitoid rocks and mylonite zones. This is because post-Tertiary basin inversion has acted to exhume the southern portion of the Tallaringa Trough, leading to the widespread exposure and erosion of the sedimentary succession, making prospective basement units now occur at shallow depth. Therefore, although no known uranium deposits exist nearby, the tenement was considered to have a tectono-stratigraphic history which made it prospective. The Challenger gold mine is located approximately 80 km south-southeast of the southern boundary of the area. During the first licence year, Quasar acquired part of a fixed wing airborne TEMPEST electromagnetic survey which covered EL 3485 and surrounding tenements also held by the company. A total of 1074 line km were flown over the subject licence in July-August 2006 along 1 km spaced east-west flight lines at a mean sensor height above the surface of 30 m. Processing, validation and inversion modelling of the new AEM data were commenced. During licence Year 2, a geophysical consultant's inversion modelling of the AEM data partly defined portions of the Tallaringa Palaeochannel, but it was thought that further refinement of the data would be required to define drill targets. Plans were made to acquire gravity data also. During licence Year 3, Quasar conducted an Aboriginal heritage work area clearance survey in the eastern part of the tenement with representatives of the Antakirinja Native title claimants' group. A Deed of Exploration (Access) for the Woomera Prohibited Area was signed with the Commonwealth Department of Defence. The company also acquired part of an airborne magnetic/radiometric survey which covered EL 3485 and surrounding tenements also held by the company. A total of 11,270 line km were flown over the period November 2008 to January 2009 along 100 m spaced north-south flight lines at a mean sensor height above the surface of 50 m. The survey data were processed and assessed, following which plans were made to carry out on-ground activities within the licence area. However, the commencement of such work was delayed due to the inability to complete Aboriginal heritage protection clearance surveys with the Native title custodians, and because of still ongoing discussions with the SA Government's DEH over what would be agreed conditions for obtaining access into the Tallaringa Conservation Park. Modelling and interpretation of the 2006 survey AEM data was continued, using in-house layered earth model inversion software and by doing manual selection of resistive basement features appearing on the inverted sections. A grid of these latter picks covering the entire tenement was generated, on which were plotted their RL values.
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