Larvotto begins gold and antimony concentrate output at Hillgrove

Larvotto Resources has initiated gold and antimony concentrate production at its Hillgrove Mine in New South Wales, Australia. This achievement comes following a comprehensive redevelopment and upgrade of the processing plant earlier this month. The company announced that both the flotation cells and filter presses have been activated, enabling the generation of the initial batch of flotation concentrate.

The process entails the preliminary concentration of ore in rougher flotation cells, followed by additional purification in Jameson and cleaner flotation cells to produce a 60% antimony product. The concentrate is then thickened, filtered, and finally specified. Larvotto anticipates that Hillgrove's output will total about 4,900 tonnes annually of antimony and 40,500 troy ounces (oz) of gold.

Managing Director Ron Heeks stated, "Commissioning the flotation circuit and concentrate filter presses, allowing the production of our first concentrate, represents another major milestone for Larvotto at Hillgrove. This advances our journey towards a consistent production operation." With the successful creation of the first concentrate, the focus shifts to delivering on the secured off-take agreements, which include an antimony off-take with Wogen Resources and a gold concentrate off-take with Glencore.

The mine is projected to function under this setup for an initial eight-year term. Both antimony and gold concentrate offtakes are secured through binding agreements. A December 2024 agreement with Wogen Resources grants Wogen exclusive worldwide off-take rights to antimony concentrate from Hillgrove for the first seven years of production. Glencore is set to purchase gold concentrate for the same period, with an expected annual off-take of approximately 15,000 dry tonnes.

Larvotto's initiation of gold and antimony concentrate output at Hillgrove is reported by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.