Chalice taps Cutifani’s firm for WA palladium push

Kristie Batten | April 13, 2026 | 5:13 am Critical Minerals Australia Copper Nickel Palladium

Anglo American half-year profit best in its 104-year history

Mark Cutifani. (Archive image courtesy of Anglo American.)

Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) has appointed Odin Partnership, founded by former Anglo American (LON: AAL) chief Mark Cutifani, as a strategic adviser to advance its Gonneville palladium-nickel-copper project in Western Australia.

The move brings in a senior trio that also includes former Anglo executive director Tony O’Neill and ex–Bank of America metals and mining lead Omar Davis, as Chalice steps up development planning, financing strategy and market positioning for the asset.

Managing director Alex Dorsch said the endorsement followed a detailed review that began after an introduction in January.

“To have someone like Mark Cutifani put his name to Chalice … it goes without saying he’s bit of a god of the sector,” he said.

Dorsch said Odin’s team assessed the project, the company and its people through February and March before deciding it could add value. Their global networks across platinum group elements and base metals are expected to lift Chalice’s profile in Europe and North America, where the company has had limited exposure.

Building capacity

Odin will assess organizational capability, review capital markets strategy and product marketing, and conduct an independent technical and value optimization review of Gonneville.

Dorsch said the group would examine staging, configuration and upside potential while helping recruit execution talent across the board, executive and project teams. The advisers will also support discussions with potential partners and off-takers.

Interest in Gonneville has remained strong from customers, financiers and strategic partners, Dorsch said, with several parties still evaluating the asset. He added that work with Odin would help determine the optimal financing structure.

Chalice already has a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi, which has provided technical and marketing input.

Critical metals push

Gonneville, about 70 km northeast of Perth, is a greenfields discovery from March 2020 with a resource of 17 million ounces of palladium, platinum and gold (3E), 960,000 tonnes of nickel, 540,000 tonnes of copper and 96,000 tonnes of cobalt. The discovery once pushed Chalice’s market capitalization above A$3 billion ($2.1 billion). Despite weaker nickel prices since then, the company has continued to advance the project.

The Gonneville palladium-nickel-copper project in Western Australia. (*Image courtesy of Chalice Mining.*)

A prefeasibility study released in December outlined initial capital costs of A$820 million for stage one of a 23-year operation. The project is forecast to produce 220,000 ounces a year of 3E, 7,000 tonnes a year of nickel, 8,000 tonnes a year of copper and 700 tonnes a year of cobalt at all-in sustaining costs of $370 an ounce of 3E, net of by-product credits.

Chalice estimates cumulative pre-tax free cash flow of A$4.7 billion ($3.3 billion) based on assumed prices of $1,300 an ounce for palladium, $18,750 a tonne for nickel and $10,500 a tonne for copper. The project carries a post-tax net present value at an 8% discount rate of A$1 billion, a pre-tax internal rate of return of 23% and a 2.7-year payback period. A planned A$840 million ($593 million) expansion from 5 Mtpa to 14 Mtpa in year five would be funded from post-financing cashflows.

A fully funded feasibility study is underway, with Chalice targeting a final investment decision in the first half of 2028 and first production in 2030.