Hillgrove’s monster 16km drilling plan targets copper resources, production

Hillgrove has started an extensive 16,000m drill program aimed at increasing resources at its Kanmantoo copper project in South Australia.

This will target extensions to known lodes with initial drilling aimed at bringing the Nugent Pit into the mine plan, which will create an additional work area to increase annual production potential.

Hillgrove Resources (ASX:HGO) adds that higher productivity will also increase utilisation of the existing processing plant at Kanmantoo, a move that is expected to add further value to a very robust project.

Drilling will accelerate with the imminent arrival of two additional rigs and will expand to include the Spitfire, South West, and North Kavanagh lodes.

This work will support the company’s well-timed move to start underground mining at Kanmantoo given that the global push towards electrification could increase copper consumption by green energy sectors five-fold in the 10 years to 2030, according to consultancy CRU Group.

Kanmantoo project

The latest drilling follows up on some 17km of drilling in the first half of 2021 that demonstrated that the main Kavanagh lodes below the base of the main Giant Pit extend up to 500m below the base of the pit and remain open at depth.

This supported the company’s push to start underground mining at Kanmantoo, which is supported by the fully-permitted site, strong community support, and having all required infrastructure – including a 3.5 million tonne per annum process facility – already in place.

An updated resource is expected soon.

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.