Uranium Projects
Crescent is actively exploring for uranium resources in the globally significant uranium producing regions of central Australia. All tenements, joint ventures and exploration activities are conducted under Uranium West Limited, a 100% owned subsidiary of Crescent Gold Limited. In South Australia, the Company is actively exploring for roll front style uranium deposits in the Moomba region and iron oxide copper-gold-uranium (IOCGU) style deposits in the Olympic Dam region. In the Northern Territory exploration is targeting high-grade unconformity, roll front and palaeo-channel uranium deposits.
South Australia
Sturt Joint Venture
OVERVIEW
Location
:
Strzelecki Desert, central Australia.
Project Details :
Crescent is actively exploring a significant new uranium province in central Australia. The Sturt Joint Venture project, which covers the shallow sediments of the Lake Eyre Basin, has a range of geological features which make it a very attractive exploration play. The exploration concept is new and there has been no previous uranium exploration in the area, yet historic petroleum wells and recent exploration drilling give strong indications for uranium mineralisation.
Crescent is earning to a 50% interest of the Sturt project from TC Development Corporation Pty Ltd for the expenditure of $16m over four years. The project covers a large previously unexplored terrain centred on Moomba, comprising 29 granted tenements and 23 applications covering a combined area in excess of 39,000 km2 across South Australia and Queensland.
The Project is based on the geological similarity between the Lake Eyre Basin and sediments located in Kazakhstan, which hosts world-class uranium deposits that have proven to be highly profitable mining propositions using In Situ Leach (ISL) technology. Roll front uranium deposits had been formed in the sediments of the Lake Eyre basin outside the tenement areas (eg Beverley ISL uranium mine), while strong indications of the presence of uranium in the project tenements is provided in historic petroleum well geophysical logs. The significance of over 40 strong gamma responses in the upper 300 metres of wells spread over thousands of square kilometres has not been previously identified. No uranium exploration had ever been conducted on the project area previously, but large amounts of existing geological data are available from 40 years of petroleum exploration, including hundreds of wells and thousands of kilometres of seismic data.
Recent research by Geoscience Australia (government) highlighted the spatial juxtaposition of sandstone hosted uranium deposits with hydrocarbon bearing basins. This research discussed the crucial role that hydrocarbons appear to have played in the formation of large sandstone type uranium deposits worldwide and concluded that there is considerable potential in Australia for the discovery of large sandstone uranium deposits. A model was presented for uranium exploration in the poorly explored Tertiary basins of Australia which are underlain by older basins containing hydrocarbons. This is a significant piece of research which has been utilised by the Sturt project's geologists to refine exploration models and advance discovery.
Review of the historic gamma log data, combined with favourable geology, supported the targeting of the initial exploration drilling during 2008.
Status :
In late 2008 the Sturt JV completed an extensive shallow rotary mud drilling programme; a total of 7,519 meters in 63 holes were drilled, gamma logged and sampled in the Big Lake, Daralingie and Moorari Prospects. The drilling was successful in replicating and verifying the high gamma responses recorded in historic petroleum logs in the Daralingie and Big Lake Prospects. The drilling proved very useful in determining the nature and characteristics of drill-hole intersections exhibiting anomalous gamma responses and significant U values. Rotary mud drill samples totalling 3,801 were submitted for assay with 27 samples returned U assays greater than 20ppm U and the highest assay returning 254ppm U.
The technical findings of the first stage exploration drilling programme support the interpreted deposit model in addition to confirming uranium mineralization occurrence in areas correlating to elevated gamma log data and favourable geology. These findings are consistent with the exploration model which is based on the world-class Kazakhstan sedimentary uranium deposit are considered very encouraging.
Crescent has been encouraged by its preliminary drill results at the Sturt Joint Venture project. Initial drilling has confirmed uranium mineralization strongly correlating to gamma log data suggesting a number of other historic targets may also provide additional uranium hot spots.
Oak Dam Project Gawler Craton Joint Venture
OVERVIEW
Location
:
Stuart Shelf province of the Gawler Craton, South Australia.
Project Details :
Crescent Gold Limited 100%.
In September 2009 the company acquired the 75% stake in the project held by former joint venture partner Southern Uranium Limited, thus moving from 25% to 100% ownership. The former Gawler Craton Joint Venture was then dissolved.
The Oak Dam tenement EL3603, situated 5km west of the Roxby Downs sealed road, is considered prospective for Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold-Uranium (IOCGU) deposits. Located 3km inside the eastern boundary of the Woomera Prohibited Area, a Deed of Access with the Commonwealth of Australia has been signed to permit access.
Status :
At the Jindivik prospect a large geophysical target has been identified in basement rocks concealed by overlying sedimentary cover. Promising geology (haematite veining and weak mineralisation) was intersected in 1980 by WMC in a nearby hole raising the potential for a substantial IOCGU system similar to those at Olympic Dam and Prominent Hill. Detailed targeting involved geophysical remodelling of infill gravity and magnetic data collected in 2007.
The first drill test CSDDH02 of the main target at the high-priority Jindivik IOCGU prospect was completed in 2008 with encouraging results. This 1,232.9m deep diamond drill hole has significantly advanced the exploration potential of the Jindivik Prospect. The hole provides a single drill test of a large geophysical target at 850m vertical depth. Uranium West geologists interpret the hole to have skirted the western edge of an IOCGU breccia system. The proposed IOCGU system may underlay the as yet untested centre of the large Jindivik geophysical anomaly situated 500m east of CSDDH02.
Northern Territory
OVERVIEW
Location
:
Northern Territory, Australia
Project Details :
In the Northern Territory, Crescent's joint venture partners Rum Jungle Uranium (RJU) and Southern Uranium Ltd (SNU) are conducting extensive exploration programs over the company's tenements. Exploration is targeting high-grade unconformity uranium deposits, roll front uranium deposits and palaeo-channel uranium deposits. RJU are farming in to four NT tenements and are project operators. The joint venture allows RJU to spend $1,100,000 on exploration within the tenements to earn a 75% interest in all four tenements. SNU are sole funding exploration spending of two tenements to earn up to a 75% interest in each tenement.
Status :
Tennant Creek
Exploration programs undertaken by RJU include airborne geophysical surveys acquiring magnetic and radiometric data, detailed ground gravity surveying and RC drilling at a number of prospects. The exploration is targeting the discovery of a significant IOCGU style mineralized system.
Calvert HillsAn airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey was completed over EL 24837. The area surveyed covers about 40km of prospective geological extensions to the Westmoreland uranium field located 100km to the east. The area has potential for unconformity style uranium deposits and the AEM survey is designed to map the prospective unconformity and uranium-trapping lithologies and structures.
Rum Jungle
Exploration activities on EL 24867 by Southern Uranium included detailed geological mapping, rock chip sampling and ground radiometric survey using a hand held spectrometer. A RAB drilling program on EL 24866 by RJU targeted graphitic carbonaceous shale host rocks.
