Miscellaneous Uranium Prospects in
Oban/Berber - Lake Elder - Bingelly - Emu Well - Acropolis - Wirda Well
South Australia
Crocker's Well - Mt Gunson - Mt Victoria - Malbooma - Paralana/Pepegoona
Musgrave Range - Ethiudna - Miscellaneous - Yarranna - Warrior - Lake Torrens
Oban/Berber - Lake Frome Region The Oban/Berber Prospects, also known as the Curnamona Prospects, are directly north of the Honeymoon ISL deposit, and are currently undergoing intense exploration by Paladin Resources (37.5%) in a Joint Venture with Black Range Minerals (37.5%) and Goldminco NL (25%). Exploratory drilling has further delineated palaeochannels, redox fronts and radioactivity above background levels (7 to 40 times).
The drilling has found average grades of U3O8 ranging from 0.029% to 0.180%, over thicknesses from 0.5 to 2.5 metres.
If this new deposit is found to be economic, it would be an In Situ Leach (ISL) type mine. Paladin have already stated they want to use acid on new deposits, as well as their Manyingee deposit in WA. The total of all four exploration Joint Ventures by Paladin and partners in the Lake Frome Basin has identified up to 30,000 tonnes of U3O8.
For a map of the Lake Frome region - click here (~187 kb).
Exploration tenements across the Lake Frome region - click here (~78 kb).
Lake Elder - Lake Frome Region The Lake Elder Prospect is in the Lake Frome Basin, situated approximately north to north-west of the Oban Propsect. It is currently undergoing intense exploration by Paladin Resources (50%) in a Joint Venture with Black Range Minerals (50%). Exploratory drilling has further delineated palaeochannels, redox fronts and radioactivity above background levels (4 to 15 times).
If this new deposit is found to be economic, it would be an In Situ Leach (ISL) type mine. Paladin have already stated they want to use acid on new deposits, as well as their Manyingee deposit in WA. The total of all four exploration Joint Ventures by Paladin and partners in the Lake Frome Basin has identified up to 30,000 tonnes of U3O8.
For a map of the Lake Frome region - click here (~187 kb).
Exploration tenements across the Lake Frome region - click here (~252 kb).
Bingelly - Lake Frome Region The Bingelly Prospect is in the Lake Frome Basin, presumably located west of the Gould's Dam deposit in the south-wesetern portion of the Lake Frome Basin, although the exact location is unknown. It is currently undergoing intense exploration by Paladin Resources (40%) in a Joint Venture with Black Range Minerals (40%) and Fortuna NL. Drilling has delineated further palaeochannels, redox fronts and radioactivity above background levels (5 to 50 times).
If a new deposit is found to be economic, it would be an In Situ Leach (ISL) type mine. Paladin have already stated they want to use acid on new deposits, as well as their Manyingee deposit in WA. The total of all four exploration Joint Ventures by Paladin and partners in the Lake Frome Basin has identified up to 30,000 tonnes of U3O8.
For a map of the Lake Frome region - click here (~187 kb).
Exploration tenements across the Lake Frome region - click here (~78 kb).
Siccus - Lake Frome Region The Siccus Prospect is located in the southern and western portions of the Lake From Basin (west of Gould's Dam and south of Beverley). Exploration is currently being undertaken by Paladin Resources (45%) in a Joint Venture with Black Range Minerals (45%), and Signature Resources NL (10%). Exploratory drilling has further delineated palaeochannels, redox fronts and radioactivity above background levels (8 times).
If a new deposit is found to be economic, it would be an In Situ Leach (ISL) type mine. Paladin have already stated they want to use acid on new deposits, as well as their Manyingee deposit in WA. The total of all four exploration Joint Ventures by Paladin and partners in the Lake Frome Basin has identified up to 30,000 tonnes of U3O8.
For a map of the Lake Frome region - click here (~187 kb).
Exploration tenements across the Lake Frome region - click here (~78 kb).
Emu Well - Lake Frome Region The Emu Well Prospect is located on the northern tip of the Gammon Ranges, north-west of the Lake From Basin. Exploration is currently being undertaken by Paladin Resources (45%) in a Joint Venture with Black Range Minerals (45%), and John E Risinger (10%) (formerly Director of Giralia Resources NL).
Exploration is targetting deposits amenable to In Situ Leach (ISL) mining. Paladin have already stated they want to use acid on new deposits, as well as their Manyingee deposit in WA. The total of all four exploration Joint Ventures by Paladin and partners in the Lake Frome Basin has identified up to 30,000 tonnes of U3O8.
For a map of the Lake Frome region - click here (~187 kb).
Exploration tenements across the Lake Frome region - click here (~78 kb).
Acropolis - Lake Torrens Region The Acropolis Prospect is in the Lake Torrens region, just 25 km south-west of the Olympic Dam deposit. It is of similar mineralisation to Olympic Dam - copper-uranium-gold, and was discovered by WMC during a late 1970's regional exploration program undertaken to delineate the Olympic Dam deposit (1). The average grade of the deposit, based upon one exploration bore only, is 0.7% copper and 0.007% U3O8, that is, very low grade (less than a quarter of Olympic Dam). The prospect is some at 480 m depth (1).
Mt Gunson - Lake Torrens Region Exploration by Gunson Resources is looking for a new 'Roxby', funded largely by Billiton (now BHP Billiton). There is much hype about exploration results from a recent drilling campaign, but the detail of the results aren't public yet (although they are apparently low-grade in nature, don't hold your breath - every exploration company in SA is out to find a new Roxby.....).
Wirda Well - Lake Torrens Region The Wirda Well Prospect is in the Lake Torrens region, just 20 km south-south-east of the Olympic Dam deposit (and about 5-10 km further east from Acropolis). It is of similar mineralisation to Olympic Dam - copper-uranium-gold, and was presumably discovered in the same regional exploration program for the Olympic Dam project, which discovered the Acropolis prospect. No grade data or other information available. The prospect is some at 330 m depth (1).
Crocker's Well - Lake Frome Region The Crocker's Well Prospect is in the Olary Ranges, southern Lake Frome region, just north-west of the small town of Olary. It is of similar mineralisation to Radium Hill, being a basement rock uranium deposit. It is generally low grade, thought to be 0.03% to 0.1%, with low tonnage about 1,500 to 5,000 tonnes (U). Another recent estimate by Equinox Resources (based on earlier exploration work by Esso Exploration) suggests that two deposits contain about 625 tonnes U3O8 at grades between 0.020% to 0.031% and 354 tonnes of U3O8 at a grade of about 0.026%, with gold mineralisation up to 0.7 grams per tonne. The uranium is present as brannerite mineralisation, which is quite a costly mineral to process and extract uranium from, and the deposit is thus considered uneconomic (1). The uranium is also present in the secondary (weathered) mineral absite, a hydrated titanate of uranium and thorium containing about 32% U3O8 (3).
For a map of the Lake Frome region - click here (~187 kb).
Latitude 32 Deg. 2 Min. S
Longitude 139 Deg. 52 Min. E
Mt Victoria - Lake Frome Region The Mt Victoria Prospect is in the Olary Ranges, southern Lake Frome region, just north-west of the small town of Olary. It is of similar mineralisation to Radium Hill, being a basement rock uranium deposit. The deposit is quite small, being some 300 tonnes of U3O8 at an average grade of 0.27% (1). The deposit was discovered and explored by North Flinders Mines Ltd (2) (now Normandy NFM Ltd).
For a map of the Lake Frome region - click here (~187 kb).
Malbooma - Gawler Craton Region The Malbooma Prospect is in the Gawler Craton region, in the south-western corner of South Australia. Very little information is known, except that the deposit is Tertiary in geologic age and actually occurs in a lignite coal seam. The uranium is low grade at 0.03% to 0.1%, with tonnage about 1,500 to 5,000 tonnes (U). This is similar to some coal seams in Eastern Europe, such as Freital in Germany (although uranium occurence in coal is generally uncommon to rare).
Latitude 30 Deg. 45 Min. S
Longitude 134 Deg. 0 Min. E
Paralana/Pepegoona - Gawler Craton Region The Paralana/Pepegoona Prospect is in the south-western corner of South Australia. Very little information is known about this deposit, except that it is a sandstone deposit of moderate grade at 0.1% to 0.3% with a tonnage of about 500 to 1,500 tonnes (U). Potential ISL mine target.
Latitude 30 Deg. 7 Min. S
Longitude 133 Deg. 33 Min. E
Musgrave Range - Lake Eyre Region The Musgrave Range Prospect is in the northern region of South Australia, 200 km WNW of Oodnadatta. It is currrently being explored by Black Range Minerals NL as a "greenfields" project. The uranium anomalies, detected by airborne radiometric and magnetic surveys in December 1997, could be in a wide range of mineralisation types, including granitic, unconformity, and metasediments. Exploration approval was received in 1998.
Ethiudna - Lake Frome Region The Ethiudna Prospect is in the north-eastern region of South Australia within the southern margins of the Lake Frome Basin. It is currrently being explored by Equinox Resources NL (50%) in Joint Venture with BHP (50%) as a "greenfields" project. The Ethiudna deposit, thought to be a potentially large multi-mineral deposit similar to Olympic Dam (just what every explorer says in SA - as if one Roxby nightmare isn't enough!), is located within the basement rocks forming the southern margin of the Lake Frome Basin. It is adjacent to the Mt Victoria and Crocker's Well uranium occurrences.
Yarranna - Gawler Craton/Whyalla Region The Yarranna Prospects are in the Gawler Craton/Whyalla region of South Australia, west of the Spencer Gulf - approximately 50 km east-northeast of Ceduna. It was discovered in 1981, but it is not known by whom. Due to the high salinity and low pH of the groundwater (making radium mobile), an exact uranium resource has not been able to be calculated. The low-grade deposits are thought to be amenable to ISL-type mining (5).
Latitude 32 Deg. 00 Min. S
Longitude 134 Deg. 40 Min. E
Warrior - Gawler Craton/Whyalla Region The Warrior Prospect is in the Gawler Craton/Whyalla region of South Australia, west of the Spencer Gulf. Located about 300 km west of Olympic Dam (6). The prospect was apparently discovered by PNC of Japan. It is a possible ISL mine.
The deposit is estimated to contain 4,000 tonnes of U3O8 at the low average grade of 0.034% (7).
Latitude 30 Deg. 38 Min. S
Longitude 134 Deg. 01 Min. E
Lake Torrens - Roxby Region A new prospect located about 40 km east of Olympic Dam (close to Andamooka). A large geophysical anomaly suggests a new 'Roxby' but drilling has yet to prove satisfactory. Originally drilled by Pima Mining (a few holes), it has recently been joint-ventured to Minotaur Gold and Billiton who can 75-90% on the lease (now BHP Billiton).
Miscellaneous - Across South Australia
Houghton/Adelaide Hills - Port Lincoln/MoontaMinor occurences of uranium have been found elsewhere in South Australia, although at very low concentrations and not extensive. All of these sites were known by the mid-1950's and include :
- Houghton - Adelaide Hills region. A small area just north-east of Adelaide (3). The uranium is found as davidite mineralisation.
- Port Lincoln - near Port Lincoln, Eyre Peninsula. The uranium, present in very small concentrations, generally widely spaced and associated with weak copper mineralisation (4). Further uranium is present as carnotite (uranium/vanadium) mineralisation near Cowell (4) (similar to Yeelirrie and nearby deposits in WA).
- Moonta - Yorke Peninsula. The old Moonta copper mine is also known to contain very small occurences of uranium, said to occur in "hydrocarbon gels" (4).
- Mount Painter prospects - Gammon/North Flinders Ranges region. These include the Mount Gee, Armchair, Streitberg Ridge, Radium Ridge, Mount Shanahan, Yudnamutana and Hodgkinson prospects where the uranium is generally present as uraninite (3) or davidite (4). The Hodgkinson prospect is only 3 km south-west of the radioactive Paralana Hot Springs, and is smaller but higher grade than Mt Painter (3). (Historical info and photos of Mt Painter - click it now!).
- Olary prospects - Olary Ranges, south of Lake Frome. There are several occurences of uranium throughout the Olary region, mostly associated with granite intrusions. Examples include - Binberrie Hill, Victoria Hut/Mt Victoria, Ameroo Hill, Crocker's Well and Ethiudna Hill.
Information from Quarterly Reports, Annual Reports, industry information and various media sources.
Some of these are available by email, if interested.
(1) - Lake Eyre Basin : An Economic and Resource Profile of the South Australian Portion, 1996. ABARE Research Report 96.1 - joint report by ABARE, AGSO and BRS.
(2) - Report of the Select Committee of the Legislative Council on Uranium Resources, South Australian Parliament. Tabled November 11, 1981. 193 pages.
(3) - A Guide to the Geology and Mineral Resources of South Australia, N H Ludbrook, 1980. Published by the Department of Mines and Energy, Government of South Australia, 230 pages.
(4) - Geology of Australian Ore Deposits, 1953. Ed. A B Edwards. Published by the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), 1290 pages.
(5) - D Brunt et. al., 1990, Tertiary Uranium Deposits of Australia. In : Geology of the Mineral Deposits of Australia and Papua New Guinea. Published by the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), pages ??.
(6) - Section 1.9 - Mineral Deposits, Great Artesian Basin Resource Study, November 1998. Pages 62-64. (Details to order - click here).
(7) - Curtis, J L, D A Brunt & P J Binks, 1990, Tertiary Palaeochannel Uranium Deposits of South Australia. In : Geology of the Mineral Deposits of Australia and Papua New Guinea, Ed. F E Hughes, pp 1631-1636. Published by the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Melbourne, VIC.
To convert from tonnes uranium (U) to tonnes uranium oxide (U3O8), multiply by 1.1793.
Last Updated - April 14, 2001.
Back to the Uranium Resources Page or Back to the SEA-US Front Page
Copyright © SEA-US 1998-2001
