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NICKEL CONFERENCE REVIEW

Partners warm to Ardea

ndrew Penkethman presented Aus- projects are in their fifth generation,” Pen-
Atralia’s premier nickel-cobalt project kethman said.
– Goongarrie – to delegates at this year’s While Ardea has the advantage of utilis-
Australian Nickel Conference. ing the experiences garnered from other
Goongarrie, part of the wider Kalgoor- projects, the company is also in the box
lie Nickel Project (KNP), is Australia’s only seat given Goongarrie’s location in a Tier
nickel project ranked in the top 10 globally 1 jurisdiction.
by contained nickel metal. “This is partly being driven by rising con-
With a resource of 216mt @ 0.71% nickel cerns and urgency to lock down secure and
and 0.06% cobalt, Goongarrie hosts 1.5mt long-term ethical supply of battery-grade
contained nickel and 130,700t cobalt. nickel and cobalt and Goongarrie delivers
“We’re updating the mine plan leading andrew penkethman on those credentials,” Penkethman said.
into the DFS at Goongarrie which is a top “This is an emerging project which will
10 nickel project in the world and only Aus- Given the hefty price tags on each sce- evolve as an Australian source for interna-
tralian project in that group,” Penkethman, nario, KPMG is on board helping Ardea tional battery metals as it removes supply
who started as Ardea’s chief executive in seek out potential strategic partners. line concerns. Whichever way you look at it,
April, said. Penkethman said there was sound pro- it offers an ethical, secure, long-life source
“Strategically, Goongarrie is a low tech- gress being made in attracting potential of nickel and cobalt and that is what equity
nical risk project for the growing battery offtakers for Goongarrie, which at the 2.25 markets and social pressures are demand-
markets. For the potential partners look- mtpa, 25-year mine life at 0.88% nickel ing.”
ing over the numbers, they are buoyed by and 0.1% cobalt could deliver 81,000 tpa Furthermore, while Goongarrie is in fo-
the fact the expanded mining case of 2.25 nickel sulphate and 10,000 tpa cobalt sul- cus for Ardea, the satellite KNP projects will
mtpa is based on only 26% of Goongarrie’s phate. potentially give the company room to move
resource, so there’s considerable upside.” PFS outcomes indicate that pressurised as it can consider sending additional ore
Ardea has completed PFS work on three acid leaching could figure in the flowsheet, through a plant at Goongarrie or establish
throughput options at Goongarrie – 1 mtpa while mainly free dig mining is planned. other processing hubs within its footprint.
($US472 million capex), 1.5 mtpa ($US588 “We can leverage off other projects us- – Mark Andrews
million) and 2.25 mtpa ($US988 million). ing the same processing. Some of those

AUSTRALIA’S NICKEL ORDER NOW

ADVENTURE

by Ross Louthean & Carl Knox-Robinson

Many who were born in the previous century will remember the frenetic Poseidon nickel boom
when junior stock prices would soar on a questionable rumour or on the basis a company had
pegged ground near a discovery.
Australia’s nickel story actually began more than a decade before that crazy stock market phase
and that is one of the starting points in “Australia’s Nickel Adventure” produced by Silver Budgie
Pty Ltd to mark the story of Australia’s ongoing role as a great global nickel producer.
It was a story that really went public at the end of the 1960s when
Western Mining Corporation (later WMC Resources) discovered
sulphide nickel at Kambalda. $38
It is a history worth recording with all its excitement and
disappointment, colourful stories, and engineering and (plus postage)
technological advancements.

‘A history of Australian nickel exploration and mining

over the past 50 years’

P: 08 9321 0355 F: 08 9321 0426 subscriptions@paydirt.com.au PO Box 1589, West Perth, WA 6872

Page 50 NOVeMBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT