New leader to take the Chalice reins

Chalice Mining has appointed Dan Brearley as its chief operating officer from March 3.

The newly created role aims to bolster Chalice’s senior leadership team as it advances the Gonneville nickel-cobalt-copper-platinum group elements project in Western Australia.

Brearley will oversee all aspects of studies and development at Gonneville, a globally-significant critical minerals development.

Chalice managing director and chief executive officer Alex Dorsch said he is delighted that Brearley decided to join the company.

“We are approaching an important phase of the pre-development journey with the Gonneville project and Dan’s experience in late-stage studies, financing and project execution will be incredibly valuable in the coming years,” Dorsch said.

“Dan’s experience in leading project teams through construction and delivering exceptional results will be critical as we move beyond the ongoing pre-feasibility study into a feasibility study, engineering, financing and offtake for our flagship project.”

With over 25 years of experience, Brearley’s background includes roles as general manager projects at Evolution Mining and project manager at Barrick Gold, where he led the $1.3 billion expansion of the Pueblo Viejo project in the Dominican Republic. He also worked with Newcrest Mining for eight years, managing global large-scale mining projects.

Brearly said he is excited to join the Chalice team and contribute to the future growth of the company, which is focused on delivering Gonneville’s pre-feasibility study in the near-term.

“The opportunity to lead the project was highly attractive, given its uniqueness and scale, the solid foundational work completed to date, and the growing demand for the basket of metals it will produce,” Brearly said.

“Gonneville in my view has the potential to be developed in stages, adapting to the current low commodity price environment, but ultimately morphing into a multi-generational large-scale mining operation over time.

“There are very few opportunities like this in the industry, so I look forward to working with the team, building further on my understanding of the project and meeting the wider project stakeholder group.”

The outgoing general manager of project development Mike Nelson will remain at Chalice until March 21 to ensure a smooth handover.

Dorsch thanked Nelson for his contributions over the past two years, particularly in re-shaping the process flowsheet and development strategy for the project.

“We wish him well as he takes on his next project role,” Dorsch said.