Data release - as updated : Barton West and Barton East (parts of the Maralinga Joint Venture). Joint annual reports, annual reports, and final report to remaining licence's full surrender, for the period 12/1/2011 to 13/10/2020.
Published: 14 Sep 1920 Created: 12 Nov 2024 Revised: 12 Nov 2024

During licence Year 13 (2011-2012), no field work was done. With respect to EL 4216 Barton West, Dominion completed an internal review of the potential mineral sands project economics; evaluations by potential JV partners were ongoing; and a bulk...

During licence Year 13 (2011-2012), no field work was done. With respect to EL 4216 Barton West, Dominion completed an internal review of the potential mineral sands project economics; evaluations by potential JV partners were ongoing; and a bulk sample of previously recovered drill cuttings was put together to use for possible metallurgical testwork. Dominion continued its efforts to attract a joint venture partner for funding the development of the heavy mineral sands resource previously discovered on EL 4216 (171 Mt grading 2.8% HM). It is believed that palaeochannels on EL 4217 hold good potential for uranium mineralisation. Previous attempts to attract a JV partner (Deep Yellow Ltd) to explore for palaeochannel uranium were abandoned due to concerns expressed by the Maralinga Tjarutja aboriginal traditional owners. However, attempts are being made to attract a new uranium focussed group to carry out further exploration work. During licence Years 14 through 17 (2012-2016), no field work was done. In October 2013, an application was made to DMITRE for the issue of a replacement licence to EL 4216 Barton West, over a 63% reduced area of 244 square km. EL 5450 was granted to Dominion Gold Operations Pty Ltd on 12/1/2014. No corresponding application was made for the grant of a replacement licence for EL 4217 Barton East, and tenure to this ground was allowed to expire on 11/1/2014. During licence Year 18 (2016-2017), activities performed on EL 5450 by Dominion Gold comprised the conduct of landholder liaison with Maralinga Tjarutja, resulting in both parties making a site inspection during September 2016 to assess the status of past rehabilitation, and undertaking a review of past exploration data with a focus on identifying potential to expand the heavy mineral resource base and possibly finding better grade HM mineralised zones. The possibility of test drilling a deeper gold target was also reprised, as was the need to investigate the availability of groundwater resources. From the review work, it was concluded that there was excellent potential to expand the heavy mineral sand resource, as large areas proximal to palaeotopographic highs remained untested or had been subject to only very limited, wide-spaced drilling. Likewise, the attractiveness persisted of a peak aircore bottom of hole gold geochemical value of 405 ppb Au (sampled from the bedrock interface at base of saprolite) that had been detected by Dominion's past drilling done to probe beneath a 2 km long surface calcrete gold anomaly. It was decided to contact drilling contractors about how to overcome the logistical problems of getting a large percussion or diamond drill rig into the Notrab gold prospect area. No field work ensued during any of licence Years 19, 20, or 21. At the renewal of tenure made on 12/1/2018, a partial surrender of 98 square km or 40% of the former area of EL 5450 was made. On 30/7/2018, WPG Resources Limited, the then parent company to Challenger Gold Operations Pty Ltd, after having made unsuccessful attempts to recapitalise their business or restructure their operations, and with the likelihood that the company would become insolvent, appointed Ernst and Young as Voluntary Administrators. On 8/8/2018, RSM Australia Pty Ltd were appointed as the company's Receivers and Managers. On 1/11/2019, most of the South Australian mineral exploration tenements held by WPG Resources were bought by the current owner Barton Gold Pty Ltd. However, Barton Gold chose not to purchase the renewed Barton West EL 6349, and that tenement remained the responsibility of the Receiver Managers. As RSM Australia Partners were subsequently unable to find a buyer for EL 6349, an application to fully surrender tenure of it was lodged with the Department for Energy and Mining on 2/3/2020.

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About this record

Record No mesac29214
Topic Geoscientific Information
Type of Resource Document
Category Type
Document Type Mineral Company Report - Mineral Exploration
Contributor Kelpie Exploration Pty Ltd
Sponsor Dominion Mining Ltd;Kingsgate Consolidated Limited;MT Mining Pty Ltd
Tenement
Tenement Holder Dominion Gold Operations Pty Ltd;WPG Resources Ltd;MT Mining Pty Ltd
Operator Challenger Gold Operations Pty Ltd
Geological Province Eucla Basin
Mine Name
Stratigraphy
Commodity
Notes
Notes: This release to the public of the subject mineral exploration data, namely, company data which was acquired more than 5 years ago, is being done by DMITRE in accord with the provisions of Section 77D of the Mining Act 1971 and Regulation 88...

Notes: This release to the public of the subject mineral exploration data, namely, company data which was acquired more than 5 years ago, is being done by DMITRE in accord with the provisions of Section 77D of the Mining Act 1971 and Regulation 88 of the Mining Regulations 2011. Grant licensee Dominion Gold Operations Pty Ltd (formerly a 100% owned subsidiary of Kingsgate Consolidated Limited) was wholly acquired by WPG Resources Ltd on 15/3/2016. The subject EL 5450 Barton West was part of the assets included in the transaction. Under the terms of a joint venture agreement that was made in 1996 with landholders Maralinga Tjarutja, their commercial entity MT Mining Pty Ltd had a 10% carried interest in the subject licences until a decision to mine might be made. MT Mining’s shareholding was held in trust by Dominion. Geographic Locality: Great Victoria Desert;Barton Range;Maralinga Tjarutja Aboriginal Lands Doc No: Env 09361

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Language English
Metadata Standard ISO 19115-3

Citations

Use constraints License
License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Persistent identifier https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac29214
Citation Robinson, P.;Edgecombe, D.R.;Wittwer, P. 1920. Data release - as updated : Barton West and Barton East (parts of the Maralinga Joint Venture). Joint annual reports, annual reports, and final report to remaining licence's full surrender, for the period 12/1/2011 to 13/10/2020. Mineral Company Report - Mineral Exploration
https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac29214

Technical information

Status
Maintenance and Update Frequency
Geographic Reference GDA2020 (EPSG:7844)
Geo bounding box {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[132,-30.5],[133.5,-30.5],[133.5,-29.5],[132,-29.5],[132,-30.5]]]}
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