-
ALLIGATOR ENERGY LIMITED AND CONTROLLED ENTITIES
ACN 140 575 604
FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2016
Your directors present their report, together with the financial statements of the Group, being the company and its controlled entities, for the financial year ended 30 June 2016.
Directors
The following persons were Directors of Alligator Energy Limited ("the Company" or "Alligator") (together with its Controlled Entities referred to as "the Group") during the whole of the financial year and up to the date of this report, unless otherwise stated:
John Main Paul Dickson Andrew Vigar
Robert Sowerby (resigned effective 31 December 2015) Peter McIntyre
Gregory Hall (appointed 24 July 2015)
Principal activities and significant changes in nature of activities
The principal activity of the Group is uranium mineral exploration. There were no significant changes in the nature of the Group's activities during the year.
Dividends
There were no dividends paid to members during the financial year.
Operating and Financial Review
-
Operating Performance
Alligator is pleased with its sound operating performance over the financial year as reflected in the following key indicators:
-
The Company operated its exploration site without any lost time injuries
-
There were no reportable environmental issues
-
Compliance was maintained with obligations under the Exploration Agreement with the Northern Land Council and Traditional Owners.
-
There was full compliance with all applicable agreements, regulations and laws.
-
Operations for the year
Exploration
The Board and management of Alligator continued the strategy of exploring exclusively for uranium deposits with a resource potential of greater than 100Mlb U3O8 in the Beatrice Joint Venture tenement (51% Alligator and 49% Cameco) and in its own Tin Camp creek tenement.
Beatrice JV Tenements
-
Drilling program
During the first half of the financial year, a 2,257 metre shallow air-core drilling program was conducted in the Beatrice JV tenement in the Alligator Rivers region of the Northern Territory. The BT-1, BT-4, BT9 and Beatrice prospect targets were tested. These target areas were covered by shallow alluvial and colluvial sediments. The air-core drilling program was designed to test for uranium mineralization, anomalous geochemical responses and alteration under these sediments. Drill spacing was generally broad and designed to identify the response from a large (>100Mlb U3O8) deposit. Air-core drilling is a shallow drilling technique used primarily for first pass testing of an area for mineralization and geochemical anomalies in the weathered bedrock/regolith zone. Holes were drilled through cover material and the soft weathered bedrock/regolith "to refusal" when hard, fresh bedrock was encountered.
Drilling results at each project were as follows:
Beatrice Prospect
(24 holes were drilled approximately 50m apart at approx. 100m line spacing)
The drilling program was designed to test for southerly extensions of outcropping, high-grade uranium mineralisation. The target was defined by a coincident north south trending SAM conductor response and uranium in soil samples extending several hundred metres south from the outcropping mineralization. Although moderate uranium anomalism up to medium grade mineralisation was intersected in holes BTA15-013 ([email protected] U3O8), BTA15-014 ([email protected] U3O8), BTA15- 015 ([email protected] U3O8), BTA15-016 ([email protected] U3O8), and BTA15-019([email protected] U3O8)
it was primarily confined to the upper part of the regolith profile. This probably reflects secondary dispersion from the outcropping mineralisation rather than from insitu mineralisation extending south under the scree from the outcropping uranium.
Surface sampling, mapping and pitting undertaken showed the outcropping uranium mineralization to be a confined to narrow, 5-10m wide, 150m long, north-easterly trending zone (>1,000ppm U3O8) with a peak value of 9,491ppm U3O8. The mineralisation appears to be best developed at the intersection of this north east trending structure and the north-south trending SAM conductor. Sulphur analyses of drill samples indicated the SAM conductor is probably caused by sulphide in north-south trending zones. The intersections of these zones with the NE trending structure fault zone is considered to be the locus of mineralisation. The results from the drilling preclude the presence of a large (>100Mlb U3O8) uranium deposit at Beatrice and no further work is warranted.
BT-1
(38 drill holes were drilled about 100 metres apart on lines approximately 500 metres apart)
Moderate uranium anomalism, more than 50 times background and greater than 50ppm U3O8, is evident in holes BTA15-074 and BTA15-081 located adjacent to the Beatrice Fault zone. These holes are 1000m apart. A broader zone of regolith anomalism defined by uranium assays 10 - 50 times background (10-50ppm U3O8) extends for more than 2000m along the Beatrice fault.
Strong uranium decay (pathfinder) element anomalism was identified over a strike length in excess of 2000m coincident with this uranium anomaly and is open along strike. The associated radiogenic
groundwater emanating from the Beatrice Fault mark this area of anomalous uranium and pathfinder elements as a significant regional feature requiring further assessment.
The source of the uranium and its pathfinder products may be from within the Beatrice Fault or from a large mineralized zone under the Kombolgie sandstone immediately north of the Beatrice Fault.
BT-4
(11 shallow holes were drilled on three traverse lines paced approximately 400 metres apart)
The drilling tested a strong and well-defined but alluvium covered SAM conductor target. It showed a fault zone and alteration accurately matched the location and extent of the SAM feature but no significant uranium was encountered. The rock types encountered were not considered optimal hosts for uranium mineralisation. BT-4 is considered tested and no follow work is planned.
Reconnaissance drill testing- BT-9
(14 holes were drilled with an approximate line spacing of 500m)
The BT-9 target, located south east from BT1 was identified as a zone with very high uranium decay (pathfinder) elements in sandstone which remains only partly defined. It has not been covered by a SAM survey.
Assays of drill material showed up to 134ppm U3O8ppm and very high values of pathfinder elements in schistose host rocks of the Cahill Formation. These are very encouraging results and further work is warranted.
-
Sampling of Covering Sandstone for Uranium Pathfinder Elements:
A program of sampling the sandstone cover rocks covering the basement rocks, which host the large unconformity uranium deposits and analysing these for uranium pathfinder elements commenced at the BT 2, BT 12 and BT 1 target areas and for selected core samples from BT2. Geological mapping was carried out as sampling progressed. This work was aimed at better defining and ranking pathfinder anomalies to justify and SAM or other geophysical surveys.
Tin Camp Creek Tenement:
Sampling of covering sandstone and pathfinder element analysis revealed a strong anomaly at the TCC4 target in the Tin Camp Creek tenement. Additional sampling of sandstone and old reconnaissance drill holes in 2015 showed the anomalism extends over more than 2,000 metres with a peak response over 1,000 metres long. Further processing of geophysical data from the 2015 SAM survey has defined a coincident anomaly associated with this radiogenic isotope anomaly. This is a prime drill target.
In June preparations were underway for more sandstone sampling on TCC2, TCC4 and TCC 13, three targets ranked as high priority. These targets are characterized by strong uranium pathfinder element anomalism and geophysical features interpreted as the response from alteration associated with uranium mineralization within an area with favourable host rocks.
Mamadawerre Project
As a result of focusing exploration efforts on the Tin Camp Creek and Beatrice Projects, it was decided to withdraw from the Farm-in and Joint Venture arrangement for this project.