• Hillgrove Resources hits record monthly copper production despite it being only a 28-day month
  • Kanmantoo mine physicals have continued to strengthen
  • A number of new sources are being looked at to expand production and reduce costs

 

Special Report: Hillgrove Resources has produced 1,105t of copper and marked a new monthly record at its Kanmantoo underground copper mine southeast of Adelaide.

It’s the highest monthly total since Hillgrove Resources (ASX:HGO) began producing from its underground material in February last year.

And this February, it’s 116,000 tonnes of ore processed at a grade of 1.01% copper and a 94.2% recovery to produce the record, alongside average daily records for development metres and ore tonnes mined.

The mine has continued to strengthen over that time and it’s a record that shouldn’t stand for long, as Hillgrove remains on course to produce up to 14,000t this calendar year and expand into 2026.

Hillgrove CEO and managing director Bob Fulker said he was pleased to report continued improvement in mine physicals and a new copper record through a 28-day month.

“The excellent operational delivery in these key metrics shows our continual improvement and debottlenecking of the mine that is delivering tangible results.

“We are confident mine performance will continue to strengthen, as we accelerate the development of Nugent.”

 

Pic: HGO

 

Extending Kanmantoo

Hillgrove just raised $16m to develop the Nugent copper deposit and increase overall production while making a material reduction in overall unit costs.

The acceleration will allow the underground mine to increase production while providing a more diversified feed to the plant.

And while it has made the turn from explorer to producer, Hillgrove hasn’t forgotten its roots with the drill bit and has already identified its next series of near-mine exploration activities.

The company has set a new exploration target for up to 40Mt grading between 0.7% and 1.4% copper (alongside as much as 0.5g/t gold), which it believes highlights the enormous untapped potential of an underexplored copper province.

Fulker said there was a number of reasons he liked Kanmantoo when Stockhead’s Jess Cummins went to check out the formerly mothballed operation, but number one was geology.

A dependable, expandable, if lower-grade operation is just the kind of one being looked at by the majors in an Australian sector where scale is the new king.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Hillgrove Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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