Albarta Prospect, Ruby Gap Nature Park, MacDonnell Region, Northern Territory, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Albarta Prospect	Prospect
Ruby Gap Nature Park	Park
MacDonnell Region	Region
Northern Territory	Territory
Australia	Country

Located about 5 kilometres east of the eastern border of the Ruby Gap Nature Park. The deposit was discovered by Esso Australia Pty Ltd in the mid 1970's. Uranium prospect. The lease has been controlled by Western Desert Resources since 2007.

Autunite is found at various locations in a 5 metre wide shear, which outcrops as ferrigineous quartz breccia along a 3 kilometre length. The fault dips steeply west. There are discontinuous zones of chlorite alteration. The shear zone contains pyritic chlorite schist, and K-feldspar-chlorite-muscovite schist, with autunite, hematite, pyrite, quartz, and chlorite.

Rock chip samples have produced grades up to 0.9% U3O8, with subsequent trenching and drilling up to 260 ppm U3O8.

There is really little reason to go to this location, and would need permission of the pastoral station anyway. To reach this location is not easy. Access is not possible from Ruby Gap, but rather from the Limbla pastoral station homestead some 100 kilometres to the south, in turn the
homestead is 190 kilometres east of Alice Springs. Station tracks head north-east, then north, then north west, then west north-west, through mountain ranges, flat desert, and numerous dry river crossings. It then follows the Albarta Creek,the track little more than a bulldozed exploration track decades old.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References