Alchemy Resources (ASX:ALY) is close to approving exploration budgets under the farm-in and joint venture with Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) regarding lithium work programs being carried out on its Roe Hills tenure in Western Australia.
Lithium-focused geophysics will begin in early 2025 with JOGMEC, which is a Japanese government incorporated administrative agency that seeks to secure stable resource supplies for Japan.
Field work has now started on the first phase of exploration involving soil sampling consisting of infill and extension soils to complete a tenement-wide first pass assessment of lithium and pathfinder anomalism.
Previous work conducted by Alchemy in 2023 outlined multiple broad, large-scale anomalies to follow-up on.
This sampling campaign is designed to infill the previous 400m-by-400m offset grid, with 200m-by-200m and 100m-by-200m spaced sampling across the main areas of interest. About 3,700 samples will be collected.
Alchemy will act as operator of the project during the farm-in period and subject to JOGMEC earning a vested interest in the project tenements, the companies will form a joint venture.
CEO James Wilson says Alchemy is “very encouraged” by the first round of soil sampling at Roe Hills prospect, so the decision was made to infill and extend the soil sampling to fully assess the lithium potential under the JV, with this work fully funded by JOGMEC.
“The soils program will give us a detailed picture of lithium anomalism and combined with upcoming geophysics in early January 2025 will help generate drill targets for our 2025 exploration campaign,” Wilson says.
“We are excited to have boots on the ground with the soil sampling well underway at Roe Hills. At the same time we are continuing our gold exploration at Karonie to the east with reverse circulation and aircore assays pending.”
The farm-in and JV is over sections of the Roe Hills tenure comprising some 248km2 of the 694km2 Karonie Gold and Lithium Project. During the farm-in period, JOGMEC can achieve a 51% interest in the project by spending $6 million by 31 March 2029.
Meanwhile, heritage survey requests will soon be submitted for the Yellow Mountain prospect drill program in New South Wales.
Alchemy is awaiting results from Challenger gold prospect aircore drilling, as well Parmelia South and Karonie East gold prospect drilling.
Roe Hills lies along a distinctive structural trend from the pegmatite field that hosts the Manna Lithium deposit, 5km to the northeast and owned by Global Lithium Resources (ASX:GL1).
Geological Survey of Western Australia mapping has identified a high-density of narrow plagioclase dykes, porphyritic dykes, and quartz veins adjacent to a granite contact zone. Multi-element soil sampling conducted by Alchemy in 2018-2024 highlighted multiple areas of low-level lithium anomalism and coincident pathfinder anomalism across a broad strike extent.
Mapped dykes appear to have a north-south strike extent, parallel to the greenstone/granite contact, however most of the areas around the known mapped dykes are covered by alluvium and it is likely that these areas are far more extensive than the known outcrops.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Alchemy
