EL 6736 (Fig.1) is located near the town of Bungonia in South-Eastern NSW and is host to widespread occurrences of cobaltiferous wad (earthy mass of hydrated manganese oxide). The cobalt rich wad is found on top of hills in the area and acts as a shallow capping up to a couple of metres deep.
 
Historical mining of cobalt began in the 1890’s with the ore being sent to Germany for processing. There are no records of mining for cobalt in the area after 1910, and no records of production are available.
 
Previous exploration of the lease area has found areas of cobalt mineralisation up to 1.7% cobalt, and a resource estimate has been reported for areas inside the EL of 71,000t @ 0.7% Co and 0.3% Ni. Results from the North Broken Hill drilling have also included up to 0.27% Cu grades. Work by Stuart Resources found that the ore zones tended to range in thickness of between 0.5 & 5 metres thick.
 
Sulphuric acid leach tests were conducted almost 30 years ago on a sample of the wad deposits, which yielded an 80+ percent recovery of cobalt. Current leaching techniques however are likely to improve the recovery and make the process more viable.
 
Previous exploration work reports that attempts to drill the Cobalt rich wads has been ineffective because in places the wad extends under hard basalt or laterite cover, and the drill rigs used could not penetrate the cover. 
 
Field mapping is planned for reconnaissance purposes and to assess the potential of concealed cobalt rich wad under the basalt and laterite cover.

(Fig.2)