Geological and Structural Setting

The Big Bell North Project comprises two granted Exploration Licences (E20/594 and E20/667) covering an area of 117 square kilometres and is located 26 kilometres northwest of Cue. E20/667 was granted in June 2009. The Project covers part of the buried western margin of the Meekatharra - Wydgee greenstone belt and lies on the Big Bell – Meekatharra Shear Zone directly along strike from the Big Bell mine. The Big Bell gold deposit is situated on the western limb of the north plunging Big Bell Anticline. Big Bell has produced a total of 2.3 million ounces of gold (26.5Mt @ 2.7g/t Au). The Big Bell Anticline closes 14 kilometres to the north of the Big Bell mine within Alchemy’s mining tenement E20/667. An earlier isoclinal or thrust structure, the Big Bell Shear seen in the rocks as intense schistosity, is folded by the regional anticline. Alchemy believes this area on E20/667 provides good potential for gold mineralisation.

Over 90% of the Project area is overlain by soil comprising laterite, colluvial scree and alluvial sheet wash, consequently, only 10% of the area comprises outcrop. Exposed bedrock consists of foliated dolerite, talc-chlorite schist, high-Mg basalt (komatiitic), carbonate altered basalt and minor ultramafic rock units. The southwest corner of the Project area covers the northern portion of the north plunging (30° to 40°) Big Bell Anticline.  Interlayered mafic, ultramafic and BIF units of the Norie Group volcanic and Yalgowra Suite of layered mafic intrusions are folded about the nose of the Anticline which comprises the Big Bell suite of foliated tonalitic to monzogranitic rocks. The Glen Group volcanics dominate the eastern and central portion of the Project and comprise thick komatiitic basalts and dolerite overlying sediments and volcaniclastics. These units dip steeply (sub-vertical) to the west and trend to the northeast.

Interpretation of aeromagnetic data suggests most of the Project area is located between a large drag fold to the northeast and the Big Bell Anticline to the southwest. The northeast trending Big Bell Shear is interpreted to transect the western and northwestern sections of the tenement and the north-northwest trending Cuddingwarra shear is interpreted to extend diagonally through E20/667. Several other north-south structures are also interpreted to traverse the tenement. 

Gold Mineralisation and Planned Exploration

The Big Bell North Project area has been the subject of gold exploration by numerous prospectors and exploration companies since the early 20^th century and in particular since 1980. Proximity to the Big Bell gold mine, the interpreted extension of the Big Bell Shear through the project area and several old gold workings and prospects has inspired exploration over the past 25 years. However, the thick soil that covers the majority of the Project area hindered previous explorers and made systematic drilling ineffective in testing for bedrock gold mineralisation.  Best intersections from historic drilling include 14m @ 4.56g/t Au from 13m (hole: COR_17) and 13m @ 4.03g/t Au from 13m (hole: 84_CM_3).

Alchemy has undertaken reconnaissance aircore drilling and geological mapping on the Big Bell North tenements and identified a number of targets to follow up, including a northeast-trending 3 km wide by 4 km long corridor bound on each side by northwest-dipping, extremely altered and arsenic-rich faults ("Curtis Find" trend and "Ball Behring" trend). The corridor is bound to the south by a regional northwest-trending structure beneath the Behring Creek river system. This central altered corridor is a shallow north-plunging fold related to the regional Big Bell anticline, and contains numerous small gold workings and gold anomalies, as well as the Behring Bore gold resource. Background arsenic within the block is 15ppm with a peak value of 415ppm, compared to 5ppm background and peak of 20ppm in the remainder of the Project area. The block is strongly anomalous in gold and antimony. Alchemy rates this Project highly and will undertake an extensive drilling program within this gold corridor in 2010.