Geoscience Australia’s award-winning Mineral Potential Mapper has supported the largest nickel sulphide discovery in over two decades.
Chalice Mining Limited released its maiden mineral resource estimate from the Julimar project near Perth in Western Australia on Tuesday.
This tier one discovery includes 10 million ounces of palladium, platinum and gold; 530,000 tonnes of nickel; 330,000 tonnes of copper; and 53,000 tonnes of cobalt.
Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt says the discovery will create hundreds of jobs and billions in economic benefits for the nation.
“The Mineral Potential Mapper project drew on previously unseen patterns in Australian geology to predict where new deposits of nickel, copper and platinum group sulphides could be uncovered, including in areas where no deposits were previously thought to exist,” Minister Pitt said.
“Chalice has stated publicly this work by Geoscience Australia was the catalyst for the company to acquire prospective ground holdings north-east of Perth.
“Investing in precompetitive data acquisition is a long-term game, but this case study shows how it can pay off.”
