Ardea Resources (ASX:ARL) remains on track to deliver a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) at its Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (KNP) – Goongarrie Hub in H2 2025.
Speaking to Mining.com.au on the sidelines of the Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie, Penkethman says development of KNP and its sub-set the Goongarrie Hub is a globally significant series of nickel-cobalt and critical mineral deposits.
Ardea recently launched the DFS, which is being managed by Ardea’s wholly owned subsidiary Kalgoorlie Nickel (KNPL) and funded by Sumitomo Metal Mining Co (SMM) and Mitsubishi Corporation with a budget of $98.5 million.
The consortium will have earnt a 35% KNPL interest upon the completion of the DFS and progressively earn a 50% interest in KNPL, with Ardea retaining the remaining 50%. The transaction is subject to conditions precedent, including Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval.
The Hub DFS is the first critical minerals collaboration between Australia and Japan, with the project expected to be a multi decade nickel-cobalt operation. The collaboration will provide supply chain diversity, security, and will meet the high ESG standards expected from Australia and Japan, the CEO says.
“We’re completing a large scale quality study and incorporating both the technical and financial strengths of both the consortium members and our wholly owned subsidiary, KNPL, and the consortium are progressively earning a 50% interest,” Penkethman tells this news service.
“It’s the largest nickel-cobalt project in Australia and one of the global top 10 nickel-cobalt resources. That’s very much a large scale strategic asset, and that’s one of the key points that’s appealed to the Japanese consortium along with our location, just 70 kilometres northwest of the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. All that infrastructure and the unique attributes to the Goongarrie Hub that enable us to be a low cost, long life, cost-competitive operation.”
The CEO says since the DFS was launched Ardea has continued to ramp up the project with infield drilling currently taking place on site and metallurgical testwork underway.
“We’re now up to 25 personnel to manage the DFS. We’ve awarded key contracts to export service providers such as Ausenco, so full steam ahead,” the CEO adds.
Several Ardea executives have transferred across to KNPL on a full-time basis to manage the DFS, including Project Director Matt Read and General Manager Technical Services Mike Miller.
The DFS has been separated into six key work packages – Process Plant and Process Plant Utilities, Non-Process Infrastructure, Approvals, Geology, Mining, and Hydrogeology.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Ardea
