Gawler


Greater Challenger Area

Dominion has retained a large ground holding, almost 9,000sq km, within the Gawler Craton region and has developed a very significant regional database and portfolio of targets.

In the past the focus has been on gold exploration, and in recent times the development of the Challenger Gold Operations and evaluation of near mine targets has been, and remains, the main exploration priority.

However, significant prospectivity exists, not only for gold, but also for gold-copper, nickel and uranium mineralisation within Dominion’s tenement holdings. To accelerate the evaluation of this prospectivity, Dominion has entered into a series of joint ventures with companies with the ability to bring, not only additional funding but also specific expertise in the exploration for these commodities.


Barton West

The Barton West tenement comprises an area covering part of the tertiary coastal-barrier systems of the Eastern Eucla Basin. The main sand barrier shown in the area of EL3092 is part of an interpreted NE-SW trending link barrier between the more continuous NW-SE trending Ooldea and Barton costal parallel barriers. Most historical exploration for heavy mineral sands (HMS) has been directed at the Ooldea barrier. This has resulted in commercial discoveries by Iluka Resources Ltd in late 2004 at the Jacinth and Ambrosia prospects.

Drilling by Dominion in 2005 intersected significant HMS within a 75 square kilometre area in the southern part of the Barton West tenement with 70 of 79 holes drilled intersecting +1% heavy minerals. This drilling also demonstrated that the target sands were developed over a much larger area than previously interpreted.

A proposal to carry out a systematic program of drilling to evaluate an area of 375 square kilometes adjacent to this discovery has been approved for funding by the South Australian Government as part of the PACE 2006 initiative. It is planned to carry out this drilling during the second half of 2006.

A further drilling program to evaluate the Notrab gold prospect has also been granted funding under the PACE 2006 initiative and will be undertaken during the second half of 2006.

In the past year Dominion has entered into a joint venture with Deep Yellow Limited, to explore for uranium within five of Dominion’s West Gawler tenements.

Deep Yellow has the right to earn a 90% interest in the uranium rights by spending $3 million within three years and issuing Dominion the greater of either $1 million worth of Deep Yellow shares or 2.2% of Deep Yellow capital.

Dominion has also signed an agreement with Mithril Resources Limited, allowing Mithril to earn a 75% interest in the nickel mineralization in some of Dominion’s West Gawler tenements at the northern end of the Fowler Domain on the north western flank of the Gawler Craton.

To earn its 75% equity, Mithril must spend $5 million over six years. Dominion can hold a 25% free-carried interest through to the completion of a bankable feasibility study, at which time it can elect to dilute its JV interest or contribute. If Dominion’s interest falls below 10%, it can convert to a 2.5% net smelter return royalty.

The Thompson nickel belt in Canada has similar features to this area and is considered by the Department of Primary Industry and Resources of South Australia as a possible analogue of the Fowler Domain.

The Thompson nickel belt hosts major nickel deposits which have been mined by Inco Limited since the early 1960s. Inco has been actively exploring a portion of the Fowler Domain further to the southwest.


Eastern Gawler Craton

Dominion’s ground holdings within the eastern part of the Gawler Craton are prospective for Olympic Dam-style copper-gold-uranium mineralisation. The ground holdings comprise the Bulgunnia Project, where a series of discrete magnetic and gravity targets flank a regional north east trending structure (the Bulgunnia Trough), and the Kingoonya Project, where the main target is a large gravity anomaly.

Dominion joint ventured these tenements with BHP Billiton and Minotaur Resources, BHP and Minotaur sole funding further exploration to earn a 75%-80% interest.

During 2006 the uranium mineralisation rights within the Bulgunnia and Labyrinth areas were included in the portfolio of newly floated Toro Energy Limited, with Dominion retaining its equity rights to a uranium discovery.


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