A veteran analyst says Chalice Mining has made the best discovery of platinum group elements ever seen, after the first official estimate of the six metals in Western Australia’s Gonneville deposit earned the pre-revenue explorer a $3 billion market capitalisation.

Chalice’s reputation as a likely takeover target for big miners was firmly enhanced by Tuesday’s publication of a maiden mineral resource estimate for Gonneville, which is close to the Julimar State Forest on the north-eastern outskirts of Perth.