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Ardea (ASX:ARL) has confirmed its receipt of approval from the foreign investment regulator that a JV between itself, Mitsubishi and Sumitomo can go ahead mining nickel in WA.
Shares jumped over 2% in response to the news on Wednesday with Ardea noting “this is a major Critical Minerals collaboration between Australia and Japan.”
The three parties will develop the ‘Goongarrie Hub,’ part of the larger Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (KNP). Sumitomo and Mitsubishi will act as a consortium on a 50:50 basis with Ardea.
The consortium arm had to run through Korea’s FTC; that entity has also greenlit the JV. All parties now turn their attention to a definitive feasibility study (DFS) underlying the Goongarrie Hub, an existing $12M in funding from a third party will be used to complete that document.
Those funds will also go towards ongoing infill drilling at “the proposed Big Four nickel-cobalt deposit,” as well as metwork tests, processing plant engineering studies, and other environmental and infrastructure tickboxes.
“The support from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board is a strong endorsement from the Australian Government for this major Critical Minerals collaboration between Australia and Japan,” Ardea CEO Andrew Penkethman said.
“Ardea is pleased to see the conditions precedent are continuing to be satisfied to enable the joint venture with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd and Mitsubishi Corporation to proceed.”
The question, of course, remains: how cheaply can Australia, or for that matter Japan, produce high-purity nickel metal onshore in a world where Chinese-backed Indonesian nickel supply has likely changed the market landscape forever?
ARL last traded at 46cps.
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