Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) is executing a multi-track value growth strategy to explore and develop in parallel as it continues to advance its 100%-owned Julimar Nickel-Copper-PGE Project in Western Australia.
Speaking this morning (16 May 2023) at the Resources Rising Stars conference on the Gold Coast, Chief Financial Officer Chris MacKinnon says “Julimar has all the green metals required for decarbonisation”.
As such, he notes the project has put the spotlight on Western Australia and the country as a whole globally, given the size, scale, and importance of the asset.
According to the CFO, advanced development studies and regulatory approvals for a potential mine at Gonneville, located entirely on Chalice-owned farmland, are underway. The company will also continue targeted exploration activities across the full 30km Julimar Complex strike length to assess the overall scale of the mineral system.
MacKinnon adds Chalice is running a formal strategic partnering process for the development of Gonneville, where the company recently announced a 50% upgrade in the resource to 3 million tonnes Ni-Eq or 30Moz Pd-Eq. This confirms the tier-one status of the Julimar Ni-Cu-PGE Project in Western Australia, the CFO adds.
Chalice in March 2020 discovered the Gonneville deposit in the first drillhole, intersecting shallow ‘high-grade’ PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt-gold sulphide mineralisation. Gonneville is located on private farmland at the southern end of the newly discovered 30km long Julimar Complex.
In November 2021, the company defined a tier-one scale, pit-constrained maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for Gonneville. The company says the maiden resource confirmed the deposit as one of the largest recent nickel-copper-PGE sulphide discoveries worldwide and the largest PGE discovery in Australian history — demonstrating the potential for Julimar to become a strategic, long-life green metals asset.
The company says the maiden resource confirmed the deposit as one of the largest recent nickel-copper-PGE sulphide discoveries worldwide and the largest PGE discovery in Australian history
The Gonneville discovery has also defined the new West Yilgarn Ni-Cu-PGE Province, an almost entirely unexplored mineral province interpreted to extend for 1,200km along the western margin of the Yilgarn Craton. Chalice holds an ‘unrivalled’ 8,000km-square land position in this ‘exciting’ new area and is leveraging its competitive ‘first mover’ advantage.
Meanwhile, on 12 May, Chalice reported it received commitments to raise about $70 million at $7.30 per share via a private placement. Chalice received ‘very strong’ inbound interest from a select group of major, long-only institutional investors — both domestic and international.
The company also received interest from several significant existing shareholders.
In addition to the placement, Chalice also announced a Share Purchase Plan (SPP) of up to $10 million at the same offer price as the placement.
The SPP will allow existing eligible shareholders to participate in the capital raising.
Capital raised from the placement will fund ongoing exploration and pre-development activities at Julimar, as well as ongoing exploration across Chalice’s ‘highly prospective’, 8,000km-square West Yilgarn Province licence holding in Western Australia.
Images: Chalice Mining Ltd
