Thanks very much, Amy. It's terrific to be back in Noosa, and it's a credit to everyone involved in organizing such a successful event. To see the growth in this event year after year and the contributions to the local economy, it's just so good. Today I'll be providing you with an update on the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project. In this increasingly geopolitically influenced world, there's never been a more opportune time for such a globally significant and strategic project. Standard disclaimer. This presentation is available for viewing and downloading from our website and also the ASX platform. To set the scene with the project. The Kalgoorlie Nickel Project is the largest nickel-cobalt resource in Australia, and it's also in the global top 10. H osts approximately 6.1 million tonnes that contain nickel. The tenement location plan on the right indicates the tenements in green. They're the subject of our incorporated joint venture with Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsubishi Corporation and host about 4.1 million tonnes that contain nickel. The tenements in red we refer to as the Kalpini Hub, and they host about 2 million tonnes that contain nickel and are retained 100% by Ardea. You can also note on the plan the access to infrastructure, road, rail, gas pipeline, fiber optic cable, and most importantly, it's a mining center. The city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is, in my view, the best operating jurisdiction in the world. We've got strong local stakeholder support, which is a key project enabler. Just a bit more on the geopolitics of the project. We currently have Indonesia contributing about 70% of the average annual nickel supply. We need additional sources of nickel cobalt, and there are a few assets at the scale of the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project that are able to provide that production for multi-decades. The project enjoys unprecedented support from local government, state government, federal government, and key international allies such as Japan and the United States. We enjoy fantastic support from the Shire of Menzies and City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, where our project's located. We've been awarded Major Project Status by the federal government and also access to the Investor Front Door. What that enables is increased access to permitting support, approvals, and potential funding support as well. The project's receiving funding support via our partners, Sumitomo and Mitsubishi and JOGMEC and METI out of Japan. It's been referenced in multiple critical minerals collaborations, memorandums of understanding. The geopolitical push for this project and that alternate secure supply chain is unprecedented, and we're going to continue to build upon that momentum. A little bit about the incorporated joint venture with our Japanese partners, so Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsubishi Corporation, both household names. They've been investing in and part of globally significant resource project developments right round the world for many, many years. In the case of Sumitomo, they've got a history dating back centuries. They are contributing AUD 98.5 million to the DFS funding that's being managed by joint venture company Kalgoorlie Nickel Proprietary Limited or KNPL. Our Japanese partners have earned a 35% interest, and they're moving towards earning a 50% interest once they make a positive final investment decision. Also critically, they've got 75% of the offtake, and that's a key requirement to be able to secure the most favorable financing terms, particularly on the debt side, because clearly they're large, credible offtake partners. The team's been incredibly busy delivering and moving the project forward, and this has been seen by the news flow this year. In February, we had letters of funding support totaling AUD 1 billion from Export Finance Australia and U.S. Export-Import Bank. In March, we've been included in the Japan and U.S. Critical Minerals Collaboration. In April, granted Investor Front Door status for Ardea and the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project, which is a key federal government initiative established by Treasury to increase productivity and provide funding and approval support. The Investor Front Door team have recently been relocated under the DISR umbrella so that they can work more closely with the Major Projects Facilitation Agency. They've been incredibly engaged and supportive of the project, and we expect to see more support from the Investor Front Door team and Major Projects Facilitation Agency as the project moves forward. In May, the project was referred to in the Australia-Japan Critical Minerals Cooperation agreement. In June, the Western Australian State Government awarded the project Lead Agency Status. That's similar to Major Project Status, so it gives us expedited assistance from the WA Government for any challenges we encounter and, in particular, assisting with permitting and approvals. A little bit more now about the funding support from EFA and EXIM. To receive letters of funding support for AUD 1 billion prior to the DFS being concluded is, to my knowledge, an industry first, and it reiterates the support for this project. EFA letter of funding support is funding assistance. So it could be debt, it could be equity or other financial instrument as best suits the project as we get closer to a final investment decision. With U.S. Export-Import Bank, it's $350 million, or approximately AUD 500 million, in debt funding support. There's other global export credit agencies that we've been talking to for years. They're very interested in the project, and I believe once we get closer to the final investment decision, the debt side will be incredibly easy. While nothing's straightforward, the engagement we receive is second to none, and it shows the momentum behind developing this alternate supply chain from the best operating jurisdiction in the world. A little bit of detail now about the project. We've got an aerial image, and we can see our direct access to infrastructure, road and rail. Then the mineralized block shown in red, that's the ore reserve from our 2023 Pre-Feasibility Study. In that study, we indicated a +40-year ore reserve and mine life, producing approximately 30,000 tonnes of nickel and 2,000 tonnes of cobalt every year. Early indications from the Definitive Feasibility Study are that the mine life's going to increase further. And importantly, that's assessing only six of nine deposits. So in reality, this project's going to be going for a lot longer than I will. It's a multi-generational, multi-decade asset. Projects of this scale and longevity are incredibly rare, and that's why we're getting such strong geopolitical alignment and support. In terms of the base case, all of our mineral resources are located on granted mining leases. We're looking at developing a 3.5 million tonne per annum. That's two 1.75 million tonne per annum autoclaves. We will be producing an intermediate product called Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate, or MHP, grading approximately 50%-60% nickel, 2%-4% cobalt. That will be shipped to Sumitomo's existing refineries and infrastructure in Japan, where they have that infrastructure and intellectual property and expertise to supply nickel units for traditional uses such as stainless steel, lithium-ion batteries. The outlook for nickel is continued demand growth. That's why they want to be involved in such a strategic asset. A little bit now about the Definitive Feasibility Study. As I mentioned, it's being managed by KNPL. Huge amount of work's been completed. Mineral resource update underway, ore reserve and detailed mine plan, hydrogeology, hydrometallurgy. We've already spent over AUD 80 million advancing the DFS. There's a huge volume of work been completed and significant advance to the project. Environmental surveys still underway, and we are targeting lodging our federal approvals later this year. With things like our Investor Front Door Status, Major Project Status, Lead Agency Status, gives us every opportunity to expedite that process. In terms of the unique attributes of the project, I've mentioned the scale. I'm a geologist by background. I won't get bogged down on the technical details. If you'd like more information, please come and see our Chief Financial Officer, Rebecca, and I at our pod just out the door. It's the geology that underpins the cost competitive operating costs for this project. We call it premium goethite. It's iron rich, it's low in magnesium, and what that translates to is low acid consumption, rapid leach kinetics. It gives us an operating cost advantage. In terms of the fiscal support since we completed our 2023 Pre-Feasibility Study, Ardea's been working with groups like AMEC on the Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive with the federal government. We're very pleased to see that support from the federal government, and that will be integrated into our updated financial models for the Definitive Feasibility Study. I feel our operating costs can easily compete with all of our international peers. In terms of the ground holding that Ardea has access to approximately 3,200 sq km. Real estate in this part of the world's hotly contested. We enjoy our first-mover advantage. Our Company Founder, Ian Buchhorn's been putting this tenement portfolio together for 25 years. It's far from an overnight success, but that's allowed the foundations for success. In addition to the very large nickel cobalt resource, there's other commodities such as precious metals such as gold, other critical minerals such as scandium and rare earths. Ardea is in the process of completing a scandium scoping study, and we'll be saying more about that later this year once that's concluded. That just goes to show we've got the base case, nickel and cobalt. Longer term, there's scandium by-product potential, and there may also be some modest scale gold production ahead of developing the much larger nickel-cobalt project. Indonesia, as I mentioned, contributes about 70% of global nickel production. The Indonesian government's realized that their production at all costs isn't working for Indonesia, and they have initiated very strict mining quotas, taking it from a three-year renewal back to 12 months and reduced those mining quotas. There's also been a lot of information about the environmental degradation and the impacts from nickel mining in Indonesia. They cannot keep increasing production without their costs rising, and we need alternate sources of reliable nickel-cobalt supply, and that's where our project comes into play. Just in closing, now we reiterate the scale of our project. It's in the global top 10. It's the largest in Australia. Assets like this are incredibly rare and highly sought after. We've demonstrated the quality of the project by being able to attract globally recognized partners out of Japan. The project's receiving unprecedented local, state, federal, and international government support. I don't know of another project around the world with this level of support. We've indicated the early funding from export credit agencies of AUD 1 billion, and that's just the beginning, even before concluding the DFS. In addition to the Goongarrie Hub and our incorporated joint venture, Ardea retains a large portfolio of tenements where we have 100% control, and we will be doing more work on those tenements to help demonstrate the value that can be added to the company. Thanks very much for your time. This is a geopolitically aligned project. It's perfect timing. Enjoy the rest of your time in Noosa, Thanks very much.
Loading workspace