Chalice Mining’s $45m Julimar land grab could be property deal of the century if green metals mine gets up

Listed explorer Chalice Mining has spent more than $45 million steadily buying up farmland abutting the Julimar State Forest to give it the best chance of developing a massive new green metals mine. Property records show CGM (WA) Pty Ltd — a company ultimately owned by the explorer — started building a foothold in the Shire of Toodyay at the end of 2020, right as its name-making Gonneville discovery made headlines as one of the biggest platinum group elements (PGE) finds in Australia. What followed was a three-year buying spree of about a dozen properties by Chalice to quickly shore up the land it needs to home a brand new nickel-copper-PGE mine, the future of which is now in the hands of the State’s Environmental Protection Authority. Documents lodged by Chalice with the environmental adjudicator on Monday confirmed that its flagship Gonneville’s project would be kept firmly out of the State Forest, despite having done what it says was “low impact” exploration drilling there in the past. WA Forest Alliance acting director Jess Boyce said the advocacy group was “relieved” to see the proposal avoid the Julimar State Forest but was still concerned that mining the nearby land would disrupt a “critical corridor” for endangered Black Cockatoos. Conservation Council executive director Jess Beckerling wants Chalice’s proposal subject to the highest level of scrutiny by the EPA and for it to ultimately be rejected. Chalice’s pitch is that the mine will be critical in delivering commodities needed for the energy transition. If and when operational, Gonneville promises to deliver 470,000 ounces of palladium, platinum and gold per year, and about 16,000 tonnes of nickel and 16,000 tonnes of copper over 18 years. The mine also promises swaths of jobs for the local area, about 1200 during construction, and the opportunity for a “drive-in, drive-out” workforce that would appeal to those less enthused by the travel demands of FIFO work. The company bought the Avalon Homestead, a former bed and breakfast in Toodyay, for about $1.6m in 2021 with a view to be used as worker accommodation. According to property data obtained by The West Australian, Chalice has amassed a landholding of about 2609 hectares or just over 26 square kilometres between 2020 and 2023. The West Australian reported at the time that mining services millionaire Peter Bartlett, who founded Barminco, was among the cohort of savvy land sellers. Chalice effectively owns an entire corridor running between the State Forest and the Avon Valley National Park. . Chalice managing director Alex Dorsch told The West Australian the company still remained in “active discussions” with neighbours, and he also didn’t rule out the miner buying up more land. “But we felt now with the current footprint . . . it’s a sufficient footprint to house an initial development,” he said. “We’ve tried to obviously do the best we can to secure both the future of the mine, but also be genuine and fair to the people that own properties there and the people that still reside in the in the region.” Mr Dorsch said he also didn’t believe that the mine’s locale was off-putting to prospective investors in Chalice, which has been trying to line up a strategic partner for Gonneville for over a year. “Once people actually go and see it for themselves they become very comfortable with the ability to permit and construct and operate a mine there,” he said. “We’ve been very, very clear that we will build and operate the mine using modern mining techniques and take into account all the minimisation of environmental impacts.” According to the miner’s scoping study on the project, Gonneville could generate $6.6b in cash over its life.