WRONG PROJECT. WRONG PLACE.
Why should an existing community be retrofitted to accommodate a mine's industrial infrastructure?
NOW TAKE THAT QUESTION TO PARLIAMENT.
Our e-Petition is now live in the WA Parliament.
If you believe the full cumulative impacts of Gonneville deserve proper scrutiny, add your name.
BEYOND THE MINE SITE
Gonneville is a proposed large-scale nickel-copper-platinum group elements (PGE) mining development near Julimar.
But Gonneville is much more than a mine site.
The proposal includes a large open pit mine, processing facilities, waste rock landforms, tailings storage facilities and supporting infrastructure. Chalice has also identified the potential for future underground mining.
Gonneville is a very large proposed mining development unusually close to the edge of a major Australian capital city. Although approximately 58 km north east of the Perth CBD as the crow flies, the mine site is considerably closer to communities on and beyond Perth's northern and north eastern fringe.
Approximate straight line (as the crow flies) distances are:
Chittering Valley Community Centre ~7 km
Shire of Chittering
Administration Centre ~17 km
Bullsbrook ~25 km
Ellenbrook ~36 km
Swan Valley ~41 km
Major off site water and electricity infrastructure is proposed through the wider Chittering and Muchea areas, while the broader water supply network extends approximately 63 kilometres to Alkimos. The proposed infrastructure therefore reaches across multiple communities and local government areas.
Within the Chittering district, the proposed off site infrastructure corridor includes privately owned rural and rural-residential land and areas of native vegetation. For some landholders, infrastructure may cross their properties; for others, it could be located close to their homes and properties.
The proposed mine would sit directly alongside Julimar State Forest, not in an isolated or already heavily disturbed landscape. It is surrounded by extensive native vegetation and habitat supporting threatened and conservation-significant fauna, including Carnaby’s Cockatoo, Chuditch and Woylie.
This makes the location of the project itself an important part of the environmental assessment, including the potential for habitat loss, fragmentation and disturbance across the wider landscape.
Gonneville would also generate traffic well beyond the mine site. Construction vehicles, workforce movements, deliveries, operational traffic and concentrate transport would interact with the surrounding road network. The final concentrate haulage route has not yet been publicly confirmed through the environmental assessment process, leaving communities along potential routes unable to fully understand how they may be affected.
The potential footprint of Gonneville therefore extends from the mine itself to infrastructure corridors, private properties, waterways, wildlife habitat, local roads and communities across a much wider area.
Understanding Gonneville means looking at the whole project not the mine pit in isolation.
OUR APPROACH TO EVIDENCE
This website brings together publicly available information about the proposed Gonneville Project and its associated infrastructure.
We aim to distinguish between documented facts, statements made by the proponent or government agencies, community concerns, and our own analysis. Wherever possible, information is linked to primary sources so readers can examine the evidence for themselves.
The Gonneville proposal is continuing to develop. Information on this website will be updated as new documents, decisions and evidence become available. Where information cannot yet be independently verified, we will say so.
What's at stake?
Homes and Communities
Gonneville’s impacts extend beyond the mine site. Homes, properties and communities will be affected by associated infrastructure, traffic, noise, dust and changes to the places people live.
Waterways and Wetlands
Waterways connect landscapes and communities. Changes to drainage, water quality and catchments can carry impacts well beyond the project footprint.
Landscape and Heritage History
These landscapes have environmental, cultural and community value. Development can permanently alter scenic character, natural areas and places that help define the Chittering Valley.
Wildlife and Habitat
Native vegetation provides vital breeding, feeding and movement habitat. Clearing and fragmentation can threaten the ecological connections wildlife depends on.
Julimar-The Park That Never Happened
26 years after Parliament was told Julimar would become a Conservation Park once mineral prospectivity was resolved, the main proposal remains NOT STARTED.
Why This Matters.
Gonneville is not just about what happens inside a mine boundary.
The proposal and its associated infrastructure have the potential to affect communities, properties, waterways, native vegetation, wildlife habitat, roads and the character of the places surrounding it.
We believe those impacts must be considered together — not piece by piece.
Assess the whole footprint.
FINANCIAL VIABILITY IS NOT ENVIRONMENTAL ACCEPTABILITY.
Chalice Mining is seeking to demonstrate that its proposed Gonneville mine can operate profitably.
That is not the same as proving its impacts on Chittering and Toodyay are acceptable.
Even when, or if, there is ever a successful processing trial, it may attract investors and increase Chalice's share price. But investor confidence is not an independent finding that the proposed mine is environmentally acceptable or suitable for the community.
What can you do?
Stay informed. Read the evidence. Ask questions. Take part in public consultation and make submissions when opportunities open.
An informed community has a voice.
STAY INFORMED. JOIN THE COMMUNITY.
Protect Our Valley - Chittering
Knowledge is Power. Ask Questions. Seek Answers.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information about the environmental and conservation values of Julimar State Forest and the Gonneville Project, visit the Julimar Conservation and Forest Alliance (JCAFA).