Energy Minerals - Coal and Uranium
Coal
The Company has applied for exploration licences which cover ~250km strike kilometres of interpreted coal bearing Permian stratigraphy in the Canning Basin. The Company has also applied for several ELA's surrounding the Pb-Zn deposits of the Lennard Shelf. Together these applications comprise a substantial new project initiative and investment partnership will be sought at an early stage.
The Company is undertaking data compilation and early stage exploration on two new project areas: for Pb-Zn on the Lennard Shelf and for coal in the Canning Basin in the Kimberley Region of WA. The Google Image below shows Cullen's eight tenement applications and one granted tenement for coal (in red) and three tenement applications for Pb-Zn (in blue).
Cullen’s applications and tenement cover over ~250 strike km of Permian, coal bearing sequences in the Canning Basin. The coal measures being targeted by Cullen occur in the Lightjack Formation of the Liveringa Group. The occurrence of coal in this stratigraphic unit has been established from drilling of petroleum wells and in water bore drilling. Two of the licence applications cover ~120 strike kilometres of the coal bearing stratigraphy that can be traced along the shallow dipping limb of a regional anticline (see figure above). These tenement applications lie south east of an area currently being explored by Rey Resources for thermal coal, yet there is no record of coal exploration being carried out previously. Cullen will use soil gas geochemistry together with geological mapping and data compilation to prioritise areas of prospectivity.
Uranium
The Company has a Joint Venture agreement with Element 92 Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thundelarra Exploration Ltd (Thundelarra), over its three tenements (EL’s 52/1890-1892) at Tunnel Creek / Kunderong, in the Ashburton Province. Thundelarra can earn a 70% interest. Native title negotiations have now been finalised and the tenements have been granted.
Angelo River and Turee Creek, the principal known uranium deposits in the Kunderong area, are recognised as having strong geological similarities to the world-class Ranger and Jabiluka deposits in the Alligator River area of the Pine Creek Inlier. The uranium, gold and PGE association at Saltwater Pool also suggests similarities to the Coronation Hill deposit.
The principal targets are found along the two Proterozoic unconformities. Thundelarra mapping has determined that, along these unconformities, there has been localised structural reactivation and deformation that created zones of permeability. Uranium-rich fluids appear to have been focused into these zones. Most of the uranium prospects are found within these zones of reactivation where a suitable reducing and porous host is present.
A secondary target is palaeochannel-type uranium mineralisation within the Cretaceous-Tertiary sediments of the Nalgomia / Tunnel Creek drainage systems. Significant deposits with similar geological controls include Honeymoon and Beverley in SA, and Manyingee in the Carnarvon Basin of WA. Uranium mineralisation is associated with 'Redox' boundaries within the permeable units.
Kunderong Project showing Thundelarra and Thundelarra/Cullen Tenure and the mapped unconformity between Wyloo and Bresnahan groups (white). The Cullen JV licences cover Saltwater Pool and Gondor, along with the area surrounding Xanadu.
Proposed Exploration Programme
The data from the 2007 TEMPEST airborne EM survey indicates a zone of intense deformation close to the Saltwater Pool Prospect. This zone occurs close to the prospective unconformity along strike from the Nobby’s prospect and is covered by >40m of Tertiary calcrete and other surficial deposits. The previous drilling has not tested this zone (see Figures).
The EM data also indicates the presence of a large (~8km) paleochannel running parallel to the present-day Nalgomia Creek. Ground follow-up in this area confirmed that thick Tertiary sequences cover this paleochannel anomaly. Both areas represent targets for drill testing.
At Saltwater Pool, Thundelarra is currently designing a drilling programme and planning heritage surveys. Drilling targets are being derived from a detailed interpretation of the geophysical surveys and the structural mapping in the general area shown in Figure below. The drilling programme at Nalgomia Creek consists of a number of east-west lines of vertical holes along the strike-length of the paleochannel.
Figure: Saltwater Pool / Nalgomia Creek area showing channel Z10 from the TEMPEST airborne EM survey along with the Uranerz RAB drillholes (black points). A zone of contorted anomalies, interpreted to represent intense deformation, occurs along-strike from Nobby ’s Prospect and is a priority target for unconformity-style uranium mineralisation. A paleochannel is also evident as a linear conductor that parallels the N-S running Nalgomia Creek. CRA drilled two holes nearby (red points) to test beneath surface carnotite mineralisation.
View Ashburton Projects - Simplified Geology and Tenement Location pdf
Cundeelee
Cullen holds one exploration licence (EL39/1312) approximately 200km ENE of Kalgoorlie. The tenement is located approximately 30km SW of the Mulga Rock U-polymetallic deposit and approximately 8km NE of the Ponton U deposit. Transported cover blankets much of the tenement and may conceal extensions of the Tertiary drainage to the south and to the east. A geochemical sampling programme has been planned to explore the area for U and Mulga Rock-style polymetallic mineralization