The Charley Creek Project, located in the Northern Territory of Australia, is prospective for sediment-hosted uranium deposits. The area includes an extensive portion of the uranium-enriched Teapot Granite. It is situated on the southern margin of the North Australian Craton.
Crossland has a 100% interest in Charley Creek.
Uranium Exploration Activities
Exploration activities at Charley Creek have included the completion of a Tempest AEM survey covering approximately 450 line kilometres of lowland terrain. This was commissioned to detect the depth of sediment development and the disposition of channels that might be present, draining from the Teapot Granite. Initial analysis of the results indicated substantial sediment development of over 150 metres in thickness in valleys draining the Teapot Granite. A self-contained base camp was also established at the Milton Park Homestead, conveniently located for access to the Charley Creek project area. The detailed airborne magnetic and radiometric survey was completed in December 2007 to January 2008. Dry weather prevailed throughout the survey, which was flown on 100 metre line spacing for a total of 11,291 line kilometres.
An air core drilling program was completed in May 2008 for a total of 4,426 metres in 126 holes. The deepest hole drilled was to a depth of 129 metres. Over 1,000 samples were submitted to the laboratory for analysis. The objective of this phase of drilling was to probe the extensive sediment accumulations beneath the flats in the Charley Creek project area to determine if they represent a viable target for calcrete or redox-related uranium deposits. The program has provided stratigraphic information across the sediment basins which will aid in planning the next drilling program.
Ground follow-up of targets generated from the airborne radiometric and magnetic survey completed in January 2008 is underway. This reconnaissance will help to identify areas of outcropping mineralization in the Teapot Granite.
Location
The Charley Creek project is located in central Australia, approximately 100 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
Property Size
The Charley Creek project area encompasses approximately 703 square kilometres.
Principal Target
Targets in the Charley Creek project area include sediment-hosted uranium deposits, specifically calcrete and redox-related uranium targets, as well as uranium-enriched phases of the Teapot Granite. Past exploration has identified uranium occurrences in the Teapot Granite. The area is also considered prospective for copper/nickel/platinoid deposits. Known uranium occurrences associated with secondary uranium mineralization hosted in the granite returned values up to 0.228% U3O8 when sampled in the 1970s. Exploration in the 1970s also measured uranium in water bores around the project area, indicating that uranium is mobile in the groundwater and a deposition site would accumulate this to form calcrete or redox deposits. Targets are either of the two possible deposit types or possibly a combination of the two types in one deposit as occurs elsewhere in the region.
Project History & Geology
The Charley Creek property was selected in 2003 using proprietary targeting methods and has since been expanded to include extensive areas of the radioactive Teapot Granite, as well as drainages and sediment basins downstream of the granite. The project area has not been intensively explored, although outcropping secondary uranium mineralization is recorded from the property. Pancontinental and Crossland believe the area contains the elements necessary for the formation of sediment-hosted uranium deposits.
The Teapot Granite outcrops in the western portion of the area, which should provide an ideal source rock for sediment-hosted mineralization in the surrounding fluvial channels. The Teapot Granite intrudes and assimilates older gneissic basement of the Glen Helen Metamorphics, Mesoproterozoic (1,650 – 1,680 Ma) gneisses and schists. The oldest lithology in the area is the Mt. Hay Granulite (over 1,780 Ma), a highly metamorphosed Paleoproterozoic mafic intrusive complex prospective for nickel, copper and platinoids, which outcrops significantly in the eastern portion of the property. A portion of this complex lies below the channels.