Ardea lands $1B Aussie, US govt backing for monster WA nickel hub
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Andrew Todd
Ardea Resources has secured a massive $1 billion funding boost from two government-backed agencies to develop the globally important Goongarrie nickel center outside Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
The company’s Goongarrie joint venture has received a conditional letter of support from Export Finance Australia (EFA), signaling potential financing of up to $500 million. It also received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) of up to US$350 million, bringing total indicative support to approximately A$1 billion.
Strong support for Ardea’s project has come through the Single Point of Entry for Critical Minerals programme. The initiative is a collaboration between EFA and EXIM designed to accelerate referrals and co-financing for eligible critical mineral initiatives. It highlights how Goongarrie aligns with shared Australian and US priorities to strengthen critical mineral supply chains.
Support will continue to be subject to meeting compliance standards, including comprehensive due diligence on environmental, social and financial matters; All standard terms for a deal of this size.
The company’s vast Goongarrie Center clearly stood out as a strategically important nickel-cobalt deposit for government-backed institutions. Located 70 kilometers north of Kalgoorlie, Ardea says its project, which includes millions of tonnes of nickel, is ready to provide long-term feedstock to the steel industry while also meeting growing demand for electrification and the need for a socially responsible source of cobalt.
The company is currently looking forward to a comprehensive definitive feasibility study (DFS) funded by a major Japanese consortium, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsubishi Corporation, to the cost of up to $98.5 million.
‘The strong interest of these government-backed institutions reinforces Goongarrie’s global strategic importance.’
Andrew Penkethman, managing director and CEO of Ardea Resources
The work will include the latest design optimizations, including a restructured transition to a simplified high-pressure acid leaching flowsheet of 3.5 million tonnes per year and a focus on high-grade ore close to the site in the early years of mining.
On large-scale projects like this, modest improvements can yield big returns, and Ardea’s already outstanding margins over traditional sulphide nickel operations are clearly attracting the attention of global governments.
The report is scheduled to be released in the first half of this year, meaning that financing and final investment decision (FID) could accelerate shortly and the project could become the centerpiece of the development phase in 2027.
Ardea Resources managing director and chief executive Andrew Penkethman said: “Receiving support of up to the equivalent of A$1 billion (in total) from both EFA and EXIM represents a significant milestone in the Goongarrie Centre’s progress towards development. The strong interest from these government-backed bodies reinforces the Goongarrie Centre’s global strategic importance in meeting both the traditional demand for nickel in stainless steel and the rapidly growing needs of the EV and energy storage battery markets.”
Once DFS is transferred, the Japanese partners will increase their stake in the Goongarrie JV to 35 percent and further increase to 50 percent after the final investment decision.
Ardea’s broader Kalgoorlie nickel project is Australia’s largest nickel-cobalt resource and among the most significant worldwide in established mining regions. It carries a massive resource of 854 million tonnes grading 0.71 percent nickel and 0.045 percent cobalt; This means that it contains 6.1 million tons of nickel and 386,000 tons of cobalt.
The overall resource is divided into two main centers; The Goongarrie Center hosts 584 million tonnes containing 4 million tonnes of nickel, while the Kalpini Center contributes a further 270 million tonnes for 2.1 million tonnes of nickel.
A pre-feasibility study in 2023 outlined a remarkable mine life of 40 years, exploiting a shallow, flat laterite orebody with a low strip rate, yielding around 30,000 tonnes of nickel and 2000 tonnes of cobalt per year.
The company was particularly pleased with its partnership with Japanese powerhouses Sumitomo and Mitsubishi, which allowed the project to move forward with a decisive decline in nickel prices and brought financing and technical capabilities to the otherwise unpopular sleeping giant.
With this new wave of international financial support, a solid Japanese consortium partnership and a progressing DFS, Ardea looks set to lead the Goongarrie Hub towards becoming a key supplier of battery-grade nickel and cobalt as global efforts to diversify Western supply chains intensify.
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