The Chilling Project, located in the Northern Territory of Australia, represents a prime site to explore for large, high grade unconformity-related uranium deposits. Chilling has the potential to host a mirror image of a portion of the renowned Alligator Rivers Uranium Field containing the large Jabiluka, Ranger and Koongarra deposits on the east side of the Pine Creek Orogen. The area is not affected by some of the significant land access issues that prevail in the Alligator Rivers district.

Crossland has a 100% interest in the Chilling project. Through the Pancon & Crossland Joint Venture, Pancon earned a 50% interest in this property.

Uranium Exploration Activities

Crossland has been able to secure a totally owned contiguous holding of prime prospectivity for URD that has fewer access issues than those that commonly burden explorers on ground of similar prospectivity for URD in the Northern Territory. Crossland will explore the tenements systematically and thoroughly utilising the latest methods.  Some of the contact sediments in the Project area are carbonaceous shales having high background radioactivity and elevated uranium contentents that could act as an intermediate source of uranium. 

Source of uranium

In the case of the Chilling project, the district is located in a zone of high uranium background, in both granites and metasediments and volcanics. The ultimate source of these high uranium background values is the Achaean granite basement, which is exposed in the Rum Jungle and Waterhouse granites, 20 km to the NNE of the project area. These rocks probably exist at depth through the project area, and in gneiss belts around the western side of the project area. Some phases of the intrusive granites in the south of the project area in the Buchanan Window may be recrystallised Archaean basement granites.  

Transport mechanism

Basin- forming structures, the Giants Reef and Adelaide River Faults, traverse the project area. It seems likely that the latter may have been active at the appropriate time for related structures to provide channelways for uranium-bearing fluids, and Crossland's holdings give priority to securing this. Generally, mineralisation will be in subsidiary structures rather than major faults.

Site for deposition

The classic site for deposition of URD is the unconformity surface between (older) metasediments and overlying (younger) sandstones. The project area contains about 130km of strike length of this unconformity, over the structures most likely in Crossland's view to provide suitable channelways for uraniferous fluids. These could also control the structures that host mineralisation. Almost all of the important Australian examples of these deposits lie below the unconformity surface, while those in the similar Athabasca Basin setting in Canada occur both above and below the unconformity surface, and some of the largest and richest deposits occur in fault structures within the upper sandstone.

The more spectacular Canadian discoveries have been made in the last few decades, and are probably a function of the much longer period of active exploration through the cover rocks that has been enjoyed by the uranium exploration industry in the Athabasca Basin relative to the equally prospective districts of the Northern Territory. By definition, deposits in and below the cover rocks will be more difficult to locate quickly than those exposed where the cover is removed, as is the case in most discoveries in the ARUF, with the exception of the largest discovery, Jabiluka II, and the most recent to be announced, Ranger 68.

The Depot Creek Sandstone of the Tolmer Group is equivalent in age to the Kombolgie Sandstone in the ARUF. Both these sandstone units are older than most of the mineralisation in ARUF and Rum Jungle, and structures that control the deposition of ore cut the sandstones. There are many potential sites for uranium deposition throughout the Depot Creek Sandstone, and probably below it, within the Chilling Project Area, and it is Crossland's intention to locate and test them.

The Uranium Expert's Report for the prospectus points out that alteration similar to that associated with URD in ARUF has already been identified in the project area, and that there are several known uranium occurrences, including secondary uranium mineralization with values up to 0.395% U3O8. Crossland expects that thorough exploration will find more.

Progress at Chilling

Since Crossland listed on ASX, major progress has been made at Chilling, and the project has evolved as several prospect areas have been identified.

Marchfly

Additional prospective ground was acquired at Mount Thomas, where the Marchfly prospect, discovered in the 1980s and tested by Mobil Energy Minerals and the French energy company, Total, was acquired from Aldershot Resources Limited.   Their work identified high grade shoots of pitchblende that extend from outcrops of secondary uranium minerals.  Crossland’s target at Marchfly is a modest high grade open pit resource that might provide feed to an existing mill.  A second target is better developed structures along the Marchfly mineralized trend.  Crossland has completed detailed radiometric surveys and has so far drilled 11 core holes to test the Marchfly zone.

Results of various drill programs are summarized in the table below:

Highlights of the 2009 drill program were:

• Highest grade U3O8 intersection to date by Crossland in CHDD12 (0.816% over 0.5m)
• The zone where mineralization is known to occur is approximately 50 m wide and extends for a length of 225m
• Boundary undefined to the south
• Undefined western boundary in the heart of the mineralized zone around CHDD 03,04,05, and TOLP 6 where grades have historically been the highest

Litchfield

The northernmost area of Crossland’s Chilling Project overlaps with the NT’s Litchfield Park. Exploration on carefully controlled conditions is permitted in NT Parks, and Crossland works with NT Parks and Wildlife Service to ensure that our impact on park values is minimized. There are some historic prospects within the park boundaries, including some that have been drilled in the past for uranium. Crossland is working towards follow up programs on some of these. 

Allia Creek Window

The Allia Creek Window in EL25076 is the site of the MEMA prospect, discovered in the 1980s by Mobil Energy Minerals. There are several outcropping occurrences of secondary uranium minerals at MEMA, as illustrated in the photos here. The MEMA structure is strongly developed, and seems to be associated with a strong linear response that can be mapped with magnetic and is also associted with and Airborne EM response from a survey completed for Geoscience Australia with Crossland’s participation.

In 2009, an intensive geochemical and ground radiometric survey commenced at Allia Creek, with a view to preparing it for drill testing in the 2010 field season. 

Buchanan Window

The Buchanan Window lies on the south end of the original Chilling Project Area. EL22738 which covers the area was not granted until early 2009, but since that time has been the site of intensive exploration by Crossland.  Mapping by Crossland’s geologists revealed that a 30sq. km. area to the east of the Soldier’s Creek Granite and extending below the Tolmer Group unconformity, was carbonate rock, which is extensively silicified and brecciated, with interbedded partly silicified siltstones, which are pyritic and carbonaceous at depth. The silicified outcrops, described as “chert” in the illustration, extend throughout the Buchanan window, though there is restricted exposure.  These rocks are most likely to be correlatives of the lower units of the Pine Creek Basin succession, similar to the units of the Whites formation exposed in the Rum Jungle district, where these rocks host uranium, copper, and other base metal deposits.  These all represent targets in the Buchanan Window.  During 2009, Crossland completed extensive back- pack spectrometer surveys, as well as stream and soil geochemical sampling in addition to the geological mapping.  The results delineated zones for follow up for both uranium and base metals.

This was followed by a RAB drill program of 2581m, in 87 holes.  Which was 75m. Generally, high water inflows prevented the holes from reaching bedrock, and more work is planned for 2010 to test bedrock for mineralization, which would be leached from the oxidized zones tested by the drilling.

Collai

Following the observation that the geological setting indicated in the Buchanan Window  was similar to that which hosts the uranium and base metal deposits at Rum Jungle, applications were lodged that cover the southward continuation of the structures that control the geology at Chilling. This area has been called Collai, after a waterhole near the southern edge of the Buchanan Window. Four Exploration Licences have been applied for, including two that lie upon Aboriginal Freehold Land. The two ELs that lie upon Pastoral leases have been granted, while the application process is under way on the others.

Interviews Regarding Chilling

Listen to Geoff Eupene's interview from October 2, 2009 with Boardroom Radio regarding the recent discovery at Buchanan Window at  Chilling by clicking here:  http://www.brr.com.au/event/61223