Highlights

  • Chalice Mining is advancing the Gonneville palladium-nickel-copper-cobalt project in Western Australia, targeting a final Investment decision in the first half of calendar year 2028.
  • The company recently made a high-grade copper-gold discovery at the Kestrel prospect near Tennant Creek, NT, with all six drill holes intersecting copper in its maiden program.
  • Gonneville holds a substantial mineral resource across multiple metals including palladium, platinum, gold, nickel, copper, and cobalt, with an extensive modelled open-pit mine life.
  • Chalice is pursuing a range of project financing options, with strong inbound interest from export Credit agencies, offtake partners, and Royalty companies drawn to its critical minerals mix.

Chalice Mining Limited (ASX:CHN) is an ASX-listed resources company that owns two notable exploration and development Assets in Australia. The flagship Gonneville palladium-nickel-copper-cobalt project, located approximately 70 kilometres from Perth in Western Australia, is being developed as what the company describes as a major multi-decade open-pit mine. In parallel, Chalice has identified a new high-grade copper-gold discovery at the Kestrel prospect in the Northern Territory, adding a second growth pillar to its portfolio. The company entered November 2026 with a funded Balance Sheet and a broad team of experienced mining, environmental, and commercial professionals guiding both projects forward.

Gonneville: A Multi-Metal Critical Minerals Project

The Gonneville project has been developed progressively since Chalice's discovery in early 2020, with a substantial Capital Investment directed towards resource definition, metallurgical testwork, environmental studies, and feasibility work. The project's mineral resource encompasses a significant Volume of palladium, platinum, gold, nickel, copper, and cobalt. These metals span several strategic and critical mineral designations under Australian government policy, which the company believes positions Gonneville to attract meaningful government-aligned financing. A pre-feasibility study completed in December 2025 outlined an initial open-pit mining phase of approximately 23 years based on the declared ore reserve.

The project's process flowsheet is designed to produce two commercially saleable concentrates — one containing copper and precious metals, and another containing nickel, cobalt, and precious metals — alongside a precious metals doré. These products are intended for established smelters in markets that include Europe, Canada, Japan, and China. The company reports that early-stage discussions with potential offtake customers have indicated commercially attractive terms, underpinned by the high quality and low-impurity nature of the concentrate specifications. Infrastructure advantages at Gonneville include the fact that all site works are planned on farmland owned by Chalice, reducing land access complexity and providing buffer space for biodiversity offset areas.

Approvals, Financing, and the Path to Construction

Gonneville's environmental approval process is underway, with the project formally referred to both Western Australian and Commonwealth Government processes in early 2024. The company notes that the project has received Strategic Project Status at the state level and Major Project Status at the federal level, which it expects will support a timely decision-making process. Environmental Review Documents are being prepared for submission, with a ministerial decision targeted for the first half of 2028, which also represents the company's intended final investment decision timeline.

On the financing side, Chalice has outlined a strategy that prioritises lower-cost sovereign and government-linked debt, including export credit agencies and potentially government grants, given the critical minerals composition of its product suite. The company estimates that Debt could cover a material portion of the pre-production capital requirement, with secondary Options including concentrate offtake prepayment, royalty structures, and commercial bank participation. The company notes strong inbound interest across multiple financing channels since the release of the pre-feasibility study.

Kestrel Discovery and Copper Exploration Expansion

In late October 2026, Chalice announced a copper-gold discovery at the Kestrel prospect within its Warrego North project in the Northern Territory, located approximately 20 kilometres west of the historically productive Warrego goldfield. The first drill hole at Kestrel intersected a wide, shallow zone of elevated gold and copper mineralisation, and all six holes completed in the initial program encountered copper. The company has identified a mineralised corridor of approximately 500 metres of strike length tested thus far, with the system remaining open in multiple directions. Gravity surveys and additional assay results are pending, and the company has indicated plans for step-out and resource definition drilling.

Beyond the Kestrel discovery, Chalice is also active in the West Yilgarn region of Western Australia, where initial drilling at the Deep Blue prospect confirmed a mineralised system over more than a kilometre of strike. Additional copper and rare earth element targets are being assessed within the broader Goomalling and Callabonna exploration portfolios. The company's managing director highlighted that Chalice remains well funded to advance both the Gonneville feasibility pathway and the exploration program at Kestrel concurrently.

Key Takeaways

Chalice Mining is navigating a dual-track strategy that balances the advancement of a large-scale critical minerals development project with an active exploration program yielding early-stage discoveries. The Gonneville project, backed by established feasibility work and government-level recognition, is progressing through the environmental approval process with a financing strategy that the company believes suits its critical minerals positioning. The Kestrel discovery in the Northern Territory, emerging from a first-ever drill program, adds exploration optionality in a historically productive Australian goldfield. As Chalice moves towards key milestones in the coming two years, the alignment between its metal mix, government policy priorities, and financing options may become a material Factor in its development trajectory.