The Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) share price has returned from its trading halt with a bang on Tuesday.
In morning trade, the minerals explorer's shares are up 19% to $8.07.
Why is the Chalice Mining share price rocketing higher?
Investors have been bidding the Chalice Mining share price higher today after it released its maiden mineral resource estimate for the Gonneville deposit at the Julimar Project in Western Australia.
According to the release, the company has defined a tier-1 scale, pit-constrained maiden resource for Gonneville, which includes a mix of oxide, transitional and sulphide mineralisation.
The maiden indicated and inferred, pit constrained, mineral resource estimate is for 10Moz of palladium, platinum, and gold, 530kt of nickel, 330kt of copper and 53kt of cobalt.
This makes it the largest nickel sulphide discovery in over 20 years and the largest platinum-group elements (PGE) discovery in Australian history. Management believes that this establishes the foundation for a world-class green metals project.
What's next?
Chalice advised that drilling is continuing at the ~1.9km x 0.9km deposit outside the maiden resource, with assays pending for ~160 drill holes and five rigs continuing to test for extensions of high-grade mineralisation.
Gonneville remains open at the Julimar State Forest boundary to the north, where approval to drill over a further ~10km of strike length is anticipated to be received shortly. The deposit also remains open beyond a depth of ~630m.
Also ongoing is its scoping study. That study is scoping the initial mine development options at Gonneville and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022.
"Major milestone"
Chalice's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Alex Dorsch, commented: "This is a major milestone for Chalice, coming just 18 months after our stunning first hole discovery at Julimar. Since then, we have completed more than 175,000m of diamond and RC drilling and now defined a genuine tier-1 scale deposit of critical minerals, with exceptional growth potential."
"The Resource confirms that Gonneville is the largest nickel sulphide discovery globally in over two decades, and the largest PGE discovery in Australia's history – a remarkable achievement considering that this is the first discovery in what we consider to be an entirely new district, Julimar, within a new nickel-copper-PGE province, the West Yilgarn."
"Given its sheer scale, the attractive suite of six payable metals it contains and its premier location close to world-class infrastructure and services in Perth, Chalice clearly has the potential to become a leading global player in the green metals space."
The Chalice Mining share price is now up almost 90% in 2021.
