As part of exploration for economic metallic mineral deposits within an area of partly outcropping Precambrian calcsilicate rocks present on Kalabity Station, a field reconnaissance of all known mineralised areas was carried out initially. The...
As part of exploration for economic metallic mineral deposits within an area of partly outcropping Precambrian calcsilicate rocks present on Kalabity Station, a field reconnaissance of all known mineralised areas was carried out initially. The following old mining prospects within the tenement were inspected : Woman-in-White, Mount Howden, Meningie Copper, Lady Louise and Black Maria. Mount Howden and Woman-in-White were assessed as having the greatest uranium potential. Following a regional exploration data gap analysis, 1:50,000 and 1:12,000 scale field geological mapping, ground scintillometer traverses of aerial radiometric anomalies, and approximately 1000 line miles of detailed airborne spectrometer and magnetometer surveys were undertaken, followed by the drilling and geophysical wireline logging of 8 open rotary holes with bottom-of-hole bedrock coring (total penetration 544 feet, including 8 x 10 foot cores) to investigate the sediment-covered northern half of the licence. None of the drillholes encountered anomalous radioactivity within either the Cainozoic cover or the Willyama Complex basement. The only bedrock geochemical anomaly detected by spectroscopic scans of the drill cores was 100 ppm Co in hole 534-2. In the detailed field mapping of a 36 square mile area within the central part of the licence which contains major shear and fault zones, a radioactive feldspathic quartzite, greater than 2000 feet in strike length, was found to contain thorium associated with hydrothermally emplaced magnetite-haematite-quartz veins. XRF analyses of vein samples showed less than 0.002% U content, but up to 0.075% Th. Complementary X ray diffraction scans confirmed the presence of monazite.
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