Bunbury Silica Sands Project

DSS holds 100% of the Bunbury Silica Sands Project which covers a land area of 5,800Ha consisting of three granted exploration licences, E70/5823, E70/6414 and E70/6415.

The Silica Sands Project is located approximately 10km southeast of Bunbury in the Wellington Land Division of the Southwest Mineral Field (Figures 1 & 2) and within the shires of Capel (17.56096 Bl) and Dardanup (2.43903 Bl). The area can be located on the Collie (SI50 – 06) 1:250,000 map sheet and the Bunbury (2031) 1:100,000 map sheet.

Access is via the Bussell Highway to the west or the Southwestern Highway to the east. Access across the tenement is limited to a combination of sealed and unsealed gazetted roads.

Project Location

Historical Resources on the Project

The E70/5823 area was explored for mineral sands from the 1970s to 2013 by Westralian Sands (Pty Ltd and Ltd) (WSL), Cable Sands (WA) Pty Ltd, RGC Mineral Sands Ltd, Doral Mineral Sands Pty Ltd and ISK Minerals.

It was explored for silica sand by Westralian Sands Ltd (1970-88) and Australian United Silica Corporation Pty Ltd (2017–18) (Ausco).

Work completed by WSL was, in general, drilling and mapping. Some mining had been undertaken in the area for mineral sands and a mining licence (M70/88, WSL) existed for silica sand but it is not clear how much, in total, was mined. The report (A24743) states that 12,500 tonnes were mined and processed through WSL’s North Yoganup wet separation plant and 8,036 tonnes of product were transported to Bunbury and shipped to Japan as a bulk sample. It is unclear if that was the sum total of mining on this lease.

The relevance of these historical reports is to show Carbine areas of sand locations allowing Carbine to propose drilling programmes early in the exploration cycle. These areas will require testing by modern exploration techniques and there is no guarantee that the sand in these areas will prove to be commercial in nature.

Carbine intends to submit Programmes of Work with the Department of Mining Industry Regulations and Safety once access has been approved by the freehold landowners. This work will be funded from existing Company funds and is expected to occur in the latter half of 2023.

Westralian Sands Ltd Resource Areas (Table 1) and Ausco mapped silica sand areas

Westralian Sands Ltd M70/88 – 12,500t mined (Tyler, M.H. 1988)

Area A location of M70/88 (dead)

Project Geology

Silica sand deposits (Bassendean Sands), interpreted as fossil aeolian sand dunes, overlie Pleistocene sediments comprising the Coastal Plain of the Boyanup/Capel region. The dunes have a low relief (3 – 9m) and their areal distribution is readily defined by the distinctive white pattern the sand displays on satellite images. Most of the dunes have a rounded profile and form elongated or irregular shaped mounds covering extensive distances. The base of the sand is marked by either a laterite development or clay sediments.