Chalice puts Gonneville before EPA

Chalice Mining has lodged plans to develop its Gonneville nickel-copper-platinum project to the Environmental Protection Authority, with an eye to begin building in 2027.  

The submission comes despite a highly publicised slump in the outlook for Australian nickel and platinum group elements, and a recent move by the company to cut spending 40 per cent.

The company has set a proposed construction commencement date of 2027 – subject to a final investment decision and regulatory approvals at the project near Toodyay – and a production target in 2029.

It hopes to build a 15 million tonne per annum processing plant using crush-grind-float and leaching technologies, processing ore mined on land previously used for agricultural purposes.

The application comes as Alex Dorsch-led Chalice continues work on a pre-feasibility study for Gonneville, assessing a number of development pathways with a targeted completion in mid-2025.

Chalice is exploring open-pit and underground mining options at the project.

The company has set an investment decision target of late 2026 for Gonneville and is also exploring its options for a strategic partner to help develop the project.

“We remain focused on attracting a tier one strategic partner for Gonneville with the financial, technical and/or marketing capabilities to assist Chalice in bringing the Gonneville project into production,” Mr Dorsch said in the company’s corporate update in January.

“We have made positive progress on this front and remain in active discussions.”

Gonneville, which Chalice believes has the potential to be one of the nation’s lowest-carbon nickel projects, is being developed on greenfields land in an area bounded by Julimar State Forest to its north and the Moondyne Nature Reserve to its south.

The company’s EPA referral document outlines a mine development envelope outside of the forest area over 30 years.

“The conduct of exploration activities in the Julimar State Forrest, which is located to the north of the Gonneville project, is not within the scope of the proposal,” it noted.

“Chalice is not seeking approval to mine in the Julimar State Forest as part of this proposal.”

Chalice has explored in the forest using what it labelled small-footprint tracked drill rigs on existing tracks, as part of the broader Julimar exploration project separate of Gonneville.

An ASX market darling through 2021 and into 2022 off the back of Gonneville’s discovery, Chalice’s share value has come off gradually in recent times.

The company, in which Tim Goyder is a major shareholder, Traded as high as $10.48 per share at its peak in November 2021 and had a market capitalisation of around $1.5 billion in August 2023.

It is currently trading at $1.18 per share, down 2.7 per cent at 10am this morning.

At its current price the company has a market capitalisation of $457.8 million. It reported cash on hand at $112 million in January.

A seven-day EPA public consultation period on the Gonneville project will run until Sunday.