Larvotto crushes first ore at refurbished Hillgrove processing plant
ASX-listed Larvotto Resources has started with commissioning of the Hillgrove mine's processing facility, in New South Wales, with first ore being crushed and placed in the fine ore bin ready to feed to the grinding circuit.
This marks the first stage of the sequenced restart of processing operations at the Hillgrove mine.
Notably, ore mined from the company's Metz underground mine is being used for the Hillgrove plant's commissioning.
The company is undertaking a staged approach to commissioning the minerals processing facility, allowing operators to familiarise themselves with the crushing circuit while wet-end plant works are progressed by build contractor Interquip.
Hillgove is poised to become Australia's second and largest antimony mine, producing about 4 900 t/y of antimony and more than 40 000 oz/y of gold, once fully ramped up, for seven years. Larvotto is also evaluating the potential for a tungsten concentrate operation.
MD Ron Heeks says the start of commissioning is a defining milestone for Larvotto and reflects the significant progress made over the past 12 months since the plant refurbishment started. Hillgrove has been mined for antimony and gold since 1857.
"To reach this point is a tremendous achievement by our operations team and Interquip, and demonstrates the quality of execution, especially given the unique challenges that were, and continue to be, created by the Hormuz conflict on equipment deliveries."
Heeks adds that underground ore mining continues to build an ore stockpile for feeding the run-of-mine pad.
