Japanese investment in Ardea Resources’ $3.1b Kalgoorlie Nickel Project receives FIRB approval

The Foreign Investment Review Board has given approval for two huge Japanese companies to invest in Ardea Resources’ $3.1 billion Kalgoorlie Nickel Project. Ardea told the ASX on Wednesday the FIRB had no objections to Sumitomo Metal Mining’s and Mitsubishi Corporation’s involvement in the project’s Goongarrie hub. Ardea, Sumitomo and Mitsubushi entered into a co-operation agreement in April to form a 50:50 joint venture. Ardea also said the Japanese companies had obtained merger control clearance from the Korea Fair Trade Commission. This meant two of four conditions to enable the co-operation agreement had been met. Meanwhile, Ardea said work continued on the Goongarrie hub definitive feasibility study, making use of the funding support arrangement of $12 million from Sumitomo. Current programs included infill resource definition drilling at the proposed Big Four nickel-cobalt deposit, bench-scale metallurgy, processing plant engineering studies, borefield design following completion of hydrogeological exploration drilling, environmental approvals, and non-process infrastructure design. Ardea managing director and chief executive Andrew Penkethman said the FIRB decision was a strong endorsement from the Australian Government for this major critical minerals collaboration between Australia and Japan. Ardea last year said a pre-feasibility study estimated the Goongarrie hub, 70km north-west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, could produce 30,000 tonnes of nickel and 2000 tonnes of cobalt each year for more than 40 years. The study said the project would generate a pre-tax net present value of $7.625b and internal rate of return of 30 per cent, with a post-tax NPV of $4.98b and IRR of 23 per cent. The study said annual average earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was estimated at $800m, with a project payback period of 3.1 years.