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Companies Highlight Green Credentials at Diggers & Dealers 2022

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: A famous puppet once famously said, ‘it’s not that easy being green’, a sentiment that rings true in the modern mining landscape as companies strive to have the potential of their new technology-focused projects recognised.

 

Australian Strategic Materials (ASX: ASM) was just one of the companies presenting at Diggers & Dealers on Day One spruiking new technologies and the commodities needed to keep them greening the planet.

It is also one of several, over the three-day gabfest, to lay claim to being set to become a provider to the world’s growing greening with its contribution anticipated to advance electric vehicle and wind turbine operations.

Non-executive chairman Ian Gandel told his audience of phase one commissioning of the company’s Korean Metals Plant that will produce neodymium products initially aiming to produce both metals and alloys utilising refined material from the company’s Dubbo mine in New South Wales.

Hyundai Engineering in Korea has awarded engineering, procurement and construction work and funding to advance the plant in Ochang which was officially opened by Australian Strategic with the Koreans in May.

Gandel reeled off the variety of high purity metal products to be produced including permanent magnet alloys, neodymium, praseodymian, dysprosium and terbium.

 

IGO (ASX: IGO) managing director and CEO Peter Bradford used his turn at the lectern on Day Two to espouse the green virtues of his company.

Bradford has been on something of a green technology crusade in recent times, holding the reins of the company’s transformation from gold and base metals to what he declared as being a “fantastic” portfolio of upstream and downstream clean energy projects covering lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt.

The company’s recent friendly $1.26 billion takeover of independent nickel producer Western Areas added the producing Forrestania mine and Cosmos development project to IGO’s high-quality, low-cost Nova operation and its likely Silver Knight satellite source.

They sit alongside a 25 per cent stake in the Greenbushes hard rock lithium mine and 49 per cent interest in Australia’s first fully automated battery-grade lithium hydroxide plant in Kwinana, both in Joint Venture with Chinese major Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia.

“Our strategy … is creating a company that’s globally relevant in the supply of clean energy metals, and we do that because we want to create a better planet,” Bradford said.

 

Neometals (ASX: NMT) has long been a trend setter in the recycling of battery materials.

Neometals managing director Chris Reed outlined recent advances made by the company at Diggers & Dealers, including its Primobius battery recycling Joint Venture in Germany with SMS group.

This partnership resulted in Mercedes Benz selecting Primobius as a battery recycling partner that will design and construct an integrated hydromet plant at Mercedes production facilities in Kuppenheim.

Neometals has developed three business units supporting energy transition in the electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage system (ESS) supply chains, encapsulating lithium-ion battery recycling, nickel-cobalt recovery and lithium chemicals.

As well as its German alliances, Neometals is advancing vanadium recovery in Finland, lithium chemicals in Portugal and lithium battery recycling with Stelco in Canada.

 

 

Kicking the dew off the grass on Day Three, Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) continued running the ‘greener than the rest’ theme at the Forum, claiming its Julimar project to be the embryo that will be first born of a new green metals province in WA.

Chalice Mining is advancing strategic planning for the development of a starter mine at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Julimar project just 70km from Perth.

Chalice Mining managing director Alex Dorsch the final day crowd at Diggers & Dealers that the company’s work since its initial discovery two and a half years ago was confirming Julimar as WA’s first major platinum discovery and the starting point for a world-class multi-district green metals province.

Dorsch boasted the unique composition of platinum group elements, nickel, copper, cobalt at Julimar would deliver the green metals essential for the de-carbonisation of the world, feeding technologies such as batteries, electric vehicles and hydrogen production.

 

Liontown Resources (ASX: LTR) managing director Tony Ottaviano outlined the targeted production start for the company’s Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia’s north eastern goldfields, which is pencilled in for the second quarter of 2024.

Ottaviano told Diggers & Dealers the company had now ticked major development milestones at Kathleen Valley, including completing a definitive feasibility study, raising required equity, securing debt funding and gaining three major offtake agreements.

Kathleen Valley currently has a Resource estimated at 156 million tonnes at 1.4 per cent lithium oxide, while the company’s other lithium deposit at Buldania in WA’s central south east has a resource of 15 million tonnes at one per cent lithium oxide.

 

Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC) has accepted the challenge laid out by the accelerating pace of global demand for rare earth materials by bringing forward a $500 million expansion of the company’s Mt Weld mine and concentrate plant in Western Australia’s north-eastern Goldfields.

The expansion was announced by managing director-CEO Amanda Lacaze on Day Three of Diggers & Dealers, which she indicated aims to lift Mt Weld’s rare earth concentrate production capacity to 12,000 tonnes per annum by 2024 from its current level of 7,000 tonnes per annum.

This is a leapfrog of Commonwealth Games winning standard over the company’s previous expansion target of 10,500 tonnes per annum, which was laid out in the Lynas 2025 growth plan launched three years ago.

The neodynium-praseodymium concentrate produced at Mt Weld is shipped to Lynas’s advanced minerals plant in Malaysia for processing into high-quality rare earth materials for the manufacture of electric vehicles, wind turbines and other electronic applications.

 

Chalice Mining Updates Gonneville Mineral Resource

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) reported an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Gonneville deposit, the first discovery made at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Julimar nickel-copper-PGE project in Western Australia.

Updated Indicated and Inferred, open-pit and underground mineral resource estimate has come in at:

350 million tonnes at 0.96 grams per tonne 3E (Palladium (Pd) + Platinum (Pt) + Gold (Au)), 0.16 per cent nickel, 0.1 per cent copper, 0.015 per cent cobalt (approx. 0.58% nickel equivalent (NiEq) or approx. 1.8g/t palladium equivalent (PdEq3));

Containing 11 million ounces 3E, 560,000 tonnes nickel, 360,000 tonnes copper, 54,000 tonnes cobalt (approx. 2 million tonnes NiEq or approx. 20 million ounces PdEq);

“The work we have completed since publishing our maiden Resource in November last year continues to demonstrate the world-class endowment, scale and quality of the Gonneville deposit,” Chalice Mining managing director & chief executive officer Alex Dorsch said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Apart from further increasing the contained metal, this Resource update has resulted in a significant increase in the higher-confidence Indicated Resource – which now represents approx. 70 per cent of the total.

“Importantly, 90 per cent of the resource above a depth of 250 metres is now classified as Indicated, which represents a major de-risking step for the project.

“The Indicated component of the Resource will underpin the Scoping Study, which is progressing well and due for completion in Q3 2022.

“The continued growth in the higher-grade sulphide component – both in an expanded open pit optimisation and, significantly, in our first reported underground Resource, further enhances the significant development optionality of the deposit.

“It is also evident from recent exploration results that there is enormous growth potential both at depth at Gonneville and along the effectively untested Julimar Complex to the north.

“While we already have a tier-1 scale deposit which has the potential to underpin a world-class, long-life green metals project, the resource base is expected to continue to grow.”

 

 

Email: info@chalicemining.com

 

Web: www.chalicemining.com

 

Venture Minerals’ ‘Julimar Lookalike’ Target Receiving Chalice Mining EM Treatment

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Venture Minerals (ASX: VMS) announced that Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) has recommenced a ground EM program at Venture’s South West nickel-copper-PGE project in Western Australia.

Venture Minerals’ project is located within Chalice’s interpreted highly prospective West Yilgarn nickel-copper-PGE province.

The EM program had started in late April 2021 but was put on hold in June due to wet weather.

Chalice’s geophysical survey is part of the first stage of the JV earn-in focused on Venture’s Thor Target, a 20 kilometres long, ‘Julimar lookalike’ magnetic anomaly interpreted to be mafic-ultramafic intrusive complex, in which Chalice may earn up to 70 per cent by spending $3.7 million on exploration over four years.

The remainder of the Chalice’s EM program will be fixed-loop EM surveying to cope with the difficult nature of the terrain and is to be carried out over an area where Venture’s airborne EM survey delineated 13 highly conductive anomalies within the southern 6.5km of the ‘Julimar lookalike’ magnetic anomaly.

“The Board is pleased to see the recommencement of our JV partner Chalice Mining’s ground EM program, with this next phase targeting the area where Venture’s own airborne EM survey delineated 13 anomalies, suggesting the current survey is highly likely to generate further bedrock conductors and potentially high priority drill targets,” Venture Minerals managing director Andrew Radonjic said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“What is most exciting is the opportunity this gives to Venture shareholders with Chalice potentially drilling these conductors early next year with the aim of making another Julimar discovery.”

 

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Email: admin@ventureminerals.com.au

 

Web: www.ventureminerals.com.au

 

Chalice Mining Presents Further High-Grade Julimar Zones

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) has continued to identify zones of high-grade at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Julimar nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) project in Western Australia.

Chalice Mining reported the receipt of further high-grade results from an ongoing step-out and resource definition drill program underway at the Gonneville Intrusion.

Seven rigs (three reverse circulation (RC) and four diamond) are continuing the approx. 160,000 metres step-out and resource definition drill program at the Gonneville Intrusion with over 120,000m of drilling completed to date providing a swag of yet to be received assay results.

In addition to the ongoing infill drilling, Chalice is currently conducting initial wide-spaced RC drilling targeting the extension of the high-grade G4 and G11 zones to the north-east.

Drilling at the Hartog Target is anticipated to commence in late Q3 2021, subject to access approval.

The company indicated it already has a comprehensive work program approved for Julimar in FY22, encompassing exploration, resource definition, environmental baselining and studies.

“Resource drilling at Gonneville continues at a rapid pace, with predominantly infill drilling continuing to confirm a robust, major PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt-gold deposit,” Chalice Mining managing director Alex Dorsch said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“These latest results confirm continuous zones of high-grade sulphide mineralisation, as well as a large oxide / disseminated sulphide footprint.

“We continue to see impressive zones of shallow palladium-copper-gold mineralisation along the eastern footwall contact of the intrusion, with these zones remaining open to the north-east.

“Step-out drilling is continuing to test the extent of the Gonneville Intrusion in this direction.

“Our understanding of the geology and metallogenesis of the deposit continues to improve as we gather more data.

“Concurrently with the seven-rig resource drill-out, we are also progressing a comprehensive metallurgical testwork program on both the sulphide and oxide mineralisation at Gonneville.

“The core Chalice study team has now been assembled and several other preliminary studies are underway to guide the scoping and feasibility stages of the project.

“We continue to work closely with the relevant State Government departments regarding access to the Julimar State Forest for initial drill testing to the north of Gonneville, with initial wide-spaced drilling anticipated to commence at Hartog in late Q3 2021, subject to access approval.”

 

 

 

Email: info@chalicemining.com

 

Web: www.chalicemining.com

 

Chalice Mining Defines New EM Conductors and Nickel-Copper Soil Anomalies at Hartog

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) reported on ongoing regional reconnaissance exploration activities at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Julimar nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) project, north-east of Perth in Western Australia.

Chalice Mining has completed a first-pass ground Moving Loop Electromagnetic (MLEM) survey over the 6.5 kilometres long Hartog airborne EM (AEM) target, located directly north of the Gonneville discovery the company identified last year.

The recent survey over Hartog has defined a cluster of 29 low to moderate conductance, mid to late-time bedrock EM conductors the company has interpreted to be potential nickel-copper-PGE targets, of similar aerial extent and range of conductance to those at the Gonneville discovery immediately to the south.

Surface soil sampling at Hartog was also completed as a first-pass screening technique to assess and prioritise MLEM conductors.

Based on the results of the initial MLEM survey, Chalice has additional surveying underway to expand and infill geophysical coverage to approximately 200m spaced lines across the Hartog target.

This program aims to define drill-ready targets and is anticipated to be completed by mid-April.

“Initial reconnaissance exploration activities along the ~26 kilometres long Julimar Complex to the north of our Gonneville discovery have delivered exciting results, with a significant number of EM-soil targets already defined at the highest priority Hartog target,” Chalice Mining managing director Alex Dorsch said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The identification of discrete EM conductors together with extensive nickel-copper soil anomalies highlights the significant potential of this area to deliver further growth at Julimar directly along strike to the north of where we have a major resource drill-out underway.

“Soil sampling and ground EM at Gonneville guided us to the initial discovery and we are very encouraged to see similar early results at Hartog.

“We are also pleased that our first regional field exploration program has validated the results generated by the airborne EM survey flown last year, which is a positive sign for our ongoing exploration of the broader district.

“Meanwhile, we have stepped up drilling activities again at Gonneville, with seven rigs now drilling prioritising definition and expansion of high-grade mineralised zones.

“Initial resource and pit-shell modelling is also being undertaken concurrently, which is guiding our drill pattern.”

 

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Email: info@chalicemining.com

 

Web: www.chalicemining.com

 

Chalice Mining Chasing Polymetallic Performance

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: If all goes to plan, Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) should unequivocally confirm it is sitting on a potential multi-deposit world class mineral province at its wholly-owned Julimar polymetallic play in Western Australia by the middle of the year. By Mark Fraser

The junior will also be able to say if it has made not only Australia’s first major palladium discovery, but is on the cusp of establishing a very large strategic deposit of critical energy metals.

Located around 70 kilometres north east of Perth, the 26km-long Julimar has so far this year been subjected to a busy field program, with the company employing six rigs (three RC and three diamond) to carry out an initial 160,000 metre step-out and resource definition drill program at the (approximate) 1.6 km by (greater than) 0.8 km Gonneville intrusion.

First pass reconnaissance soil sampling and moving loop electromagnetic programs have also started concurrently in the Julimar State Forest just to the north.

Situated on private farmland and within the forest, the project was staked in 2018 as part of Chalice’s global search for high-potential nickel sulphide exploration opportunities.

The company interpreted the possible presence of a mafic-ultramafic layered intrusive complex (aptly called the Julimar Complex) based on high resolution airborne magnetics.

So far, this structure is interpreted to extend over (around) 26km of strike and is confirmed to be highly prospective for nickel, copper and platinum group elements (PGE).

First mover Chalice started a systematic greenfields exploration program over the Gonneville intrusion in mid-2019.

The initial drilling began in the first quarter of 2020 and resulted in the discovery of shallow high grade PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt mineralisation, with the first drill hole (JRC001) intersecting 19m at 8.4 grams per tonne palladium, 1.1 grams per tonne platinum, 2.6 per cent nickel, 1 per cent copper and 0.14 per cent cobalt from 48m.

According to the company, the Gonneville discovery defined the new West Yilgarn nickel-copper-PGE province, with the intrusion being interpreted to be a layered mafic-ultramafic sill with a moderate westerly dip and gentle northerly plunge.

The potential feeder for the system, a highly prospective area for high grade
mineralisation, is yet to be discovered.

However, PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt plus-minus gold sulphide mineralisation was widespread throughout the intrusion and has been intersected down to around 850m below surface. The intrusion is open to the north in the Julimar State Forest and its depth extent remains unknown.

Speaking during the first day of the RIU Explorers Conference in Fremantle, Chalice managing director Alex Dorsch said the company had yet to find the limits of the ore body, with the search so far being confined to the southern end of the tenements.

“One of the challenges we’ve got is that thing just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” he told delegates.

“We had the benefit in September of being able to fly airborne EM over the discovery, as well as over all of other untouched area to the north, and you can see there we have this Hartog EM anomaly that extends over about 6.5km, which has yet to have a drill hole in it.

“So you can see (with this) sort of scale that we are really in the top echelon of minerals potential here.”

Earlier in the day Chalice had told the market it had just completed some initial metallurgical testwork which had shown the deposit had high palladium-nickel-copper recoveries which could yield commercially attractive base metal concentrates using simple flotation techniques.

This, Dorsch said, augured well for Chalice becoming a major player in the critical metals sector, with the electric vehicle market being “very dependent on class one nickel-cobalt-cobalt”, while hybrids “are very much dependent on palladium”.

“What’s most interesting to know about PGEs, and what is just emerging at the moment in the market, is really the criticality of these metals if we move to the hydrogen economy.

“So producing, purifying and then ultimately converting hydrogen into electricity through a fuel cell requires lots of PGEs.

“(And) at the moment the vast majority of PGEs come out of Russia and South Africa so there is obviously a big push, and that makes our discovery even more special being in a Western country.”

Although Chalice’s plan was now to have a maiden mineral resource in place for Gonneville by mid- 2021, this was not – according to Dorsch – “the end of the story”.

 

Chalice Mining Set to Add Julimar to List of Achievements

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Since joining the Australian bourse via a $7.5 million initial public offering back in 2006, Chalice Mining has carved quite a niche amongst the country’s home-grown exploration stocks. By Mark Fraser

And it’s not just because the company looks set to consolidate itself as a leader in Australia’s almost non-existent platinum group elements (PGE) sector.

Rather, it’s more to do with the fact that over the past 15 years Chalice has pursued fairly eclectic investment options while successfully creating wealth for its shareholders – a practice the company will no doubt continue as it advances three solid on-the-ground domestic mineral projects in 2021.

Since its IPO, Chalice has invested in a number of money-making assets which combined have – as of June last year – generated over $110 million in after-tax proceeds and sales.

Chalice’s portfolio pipeline has included district-scale precious and base metals projects, robust royalty opportunities as well as other sundry investments – both domestically and abroad.

Along the way the company has boosted its exposure to the global financial sector market through a listing on the New York-based OTCQB Venture Market, a mid-tier over-the-counter securities trading platform on which trades are conducted via dealer networks as opposed to a centralised exchange.

By taking advantage of this expertise – and using its own corporate initiatives – Chalice was able to finish 2020 with a market capitalisation of $1.27 billion (based on a then share price of $3.80), a cash balance of $126 million, combined cash and investments worth $140 million and no debt.

It was also during 2020 that the company raised $130 million to progress its wholly-owned platinum group element–nickel-copper-cobalt discovery at Julimar, some 70 kilometres north east of Perth in its home state of Western Australia.

Using high resolution airborne magnetics, Chalice interpreted the possible presence of a mafic-ultramafic layered intrusive complex (the Julimar Complex), which is now believed to extend over some 26km of strike.

This work also identified several large-scale electromagnetic anomalies (Hartog, Baudin and Jansz), which are located directly along strike from the company’s world class Gonneville PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt-gold discovery that was found during a systematic greenfields exploration program over the Gonneville Intrusion in mid-2019.

Hartog, Baudin and Jansz all represent high quality greenfields discovery opportunities over 20km of strike length across the Julimar target area.

The Hartog anomaly is Chalice’s highest priority target given its similar EM signature to Gonneville.

Exploration activities – which have been approved by the WA Government – will initially comprise prospect-scale soil geochemical sampling (200 by 100m) in conjunction with 200m-spaced moving loop EM (MLEM) and ground gravity surveys (200 by 50m) centred over the three EM anomalies.

This will be followed by infill soil geochemical sampling and further MLEM to define targets for drill testing.

The entire (approximate) 20 by 30km exploration corridor along the interpreted Julimar Complex will also be subjected to first pass exploration, including wide-spaced soil geochemistry and ground gravity surveying as well as/or MLEM.

Any further areas of interest will be infilled to define potential targets for future drill testing.

Chalice managing director Alex Dorsch said the strength and scale of Hartog’s EM target had drawn significant interest and the company now believed it could represent a different section of the intrusive complex which may be prospective for new styles of nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation.

“It should also be noted that the lack of an airborne EM response in other areas does not preclude the presence of mineralisation, as evidenced by our drilling at Gonneville,” he explained.

“The planned initial reconnaissance activities aim to define drill-ready targets, which will then form the basis of a second stage approval process for drill testing.”

Early stage metallurgical testwork completed to date on selected high grade and disseminated sulphide mineralisation samples from Gonneville returned promising flotation results, giving initial encouragement the sulphide-hosted mineralisation will be amenable to conventional flotation under standard conditions.

Chalice’s second major wholly-owned exploration project is at Pyramid Hill in Victoria, where the company holds over 5,000 square kilometres of prospective real estate north west and north east of the Fosterville gold mine.

So far it is particularly excited about a new (plus) 4km gold trend and two gold-bearing diorite intrusions.

All sit undercover in unexplored terrain. By the end of last year there were two diamond rigs working at the 4km long Karri prospect.

The third project is Hawkstone (nickel-copper-cobalt) in WA.

Described as a “new greenfield nickel sulphide opportunity in a frontier province”, it sits within an (over) 1,800sqkm holding east of the Merlin nickel-copper-cobalt prospect.

Email: info@chalicemining.com

Web: www.chalicemining.com