Following the first public announcement on 18/11/1976 by Western Mining Corp. of its giant Olympic Dam copper, gold and uranium discovery on Roxby Downs Station, Newmont Pty Ltd began a detailed assessment of the Stuart Shelf region of South Australia. Although the latter company did not yet know the nature of the mineralisation or controlling host strata at Olympic Dam, it swiftly made application to the SA Department of Mines for the grant of exploration licences over available ground located north-west of Olympic Dam, selecting areas occupying a trend that lay to the east of the Torrens Hinge Zone (THZ). The subject Cadaree Hill area was chosen because it covers a coincident gravity-magnetic anomaly that is situated west of the THZ on an east-northeast trending ERTS lineament. Newmont entered into a 50:50 joint venture partnership with BHP subsidiary Dampier Mining Co. early in 1977, and EL 340 was granted to both companies in the latter part of that year as an addition to six other Exploration Licences covering adjoining ground in the Anna Creek - Mount Woods region which looked to have a similar geophysical character, and which lay over a linear crustal feature that appeared to link major copper deposits further south (Olympic Dam, Mount Gunson and Moonta-Wallaroo). Within the Newmont-Dampier exploration project area, the target sought was of Olympic Dam type, i.e. large tonnage, low grade primary Cu-U mineralisation occurring in or near to a crystalline basement host. Initial field activities commenced in September 1977, with the pegging of a prospect reconnaissance grid consisting of three 8 km long lines spaced 2.5 km apart. Ground magnetic survey readings were made at 250 m intervals along the grid traverses, followed by a gravity survey of 99 stations read at 250 m intervals. The data from these surveys were interpreted and a preferred drill site was picked by Newmont's chief geophysicist for conducting an initial stratigraphic test. The intent was to drill to 350-400 m depth to try to penetrate possible Upper Proterozoic strata, i.e. metasediments or granitic breccias, that might contain geochemical vectors to mineralisation. Drilling began during November 1977, when hole SR14 was vertically rotary mud precollared to 194.9 m depth, being stopped within a silty and carbonaceous mudstone of the upper Permian sequence when available casing for the hole was all in use. Deeper continuation of this hole by diamond coring was not subsequently undertaken, however, after the JV's ensuing assessment of Pexa Oil's earlier (1970) seismic and gravity survey data recorded for the Cadaree Hill prospect region led them to make a much revised and now unfavourable estimate of the likely depth to basement there (>900 m). Hand-held scintillometer scans of the recovered drill cuttings from SR14 gave very low radioactivity responses (1-2 counts per second combined U/Th). Because hole SR14 had intersected some drill cuttings fragments of Permian brown coal over the depth intervals 93.8-103.0 m and 125.8-134.9 m, it was later decided to follow-up that occurrence by redrilling the site and coring through those equivalent intervals. During June-July 1978, twinned vertical hole SR14/2 was rotary precollared to 81.0 m and then NQ diamond core drilled to TD 145.0 m, from a collar position located 30 m to the south-west of SR14. However, the single 1.67 m thick brown coal intercept which was made in SR14/2 between 129.08-130.75 m core depth was not considered adequately prospective to cause the JV to want to retain EL 340, so licence tenure was allowed to lapse at the end of Year 1. Hand-held scintillometer scans of the recovered drill core from SR14/2 gave very low radioactivity responses (2-3 counts per second combined U/Th). A single, 1 kg bulk sample of sawn half-core from the Cadaree Hill coal seam was laboratory tested by proximate analysis for BHP, and the results are appended to the licence final report. Newmont's project engineer later performed an indicative economic assessment of the occurrence's marketability for electrical power generation, versus consideration of comparable factors relating to existing brown coal supplies to SA. The Cadaree Hill coal appeared to be of better quality than what was currently being mined at Leigh Creek, but there were too many other discouraging factors to overcome to contemplate undertaking its development, even should the seam be proven to both thicken and occur more shallowly in the area.