Larvotto Resources has revealed a bumper exploration target at its Hillgrove gold and antimony project in New South Wales, consisting of 2.8 to 3.6 million tonnes holding between 670,000 and 1.08 million ounces of gold equivalent grading at 7.4 to 9.46 grams per tonne.
The target adds strong potential for the company to grow its vast resource base that contains 1.4 million ounces of gold equivalent at a cracking grade of 6.1g/t.
More specifically, the exploration target at Hillgrove is beneath the Eleonora-Garibaldi and Metz historical mining fields, found above Larvotto’s existing resource base, totalling 7.2 million tonnes at 4.5g/t gold and 1.2 per cent antimony.
Management noted that some prospective areas are yet to be included in the new exploration target, such as Bakers Creek where recent drilling delivered an eye-catching 31m intercept going 65g/t gold from 244m including a 5.3m interval at a sublime 220g/t gold.
Another hit at Bakers Creek returned 3.5m at 9.55g/t gold from 161m. Larvotto plans to incorporate those areas into its exploration target in the future.
Expansion and resource definition drilling is expected to begin in this year’s fourth quarter, targeting the Metz area before extending outwards. Diamond drilling from existing underground workings and at surface will seek to extend known mineralised zones along strike and at depth.
The company expects to wrap up its drilling activities in next year’s second quarter as it seeks to grow the current resource base at the project.
Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks said: “Our ongoing evaluation of the extensive Hillgrove landholding continues to demonstrate the exploration upside which exists at this exceptional project. For this exercise, Larvotto has simply extended the known mineralisation of the several previously mined zones to the depth of the deepest resource in the field using historical mining and resources numbers to achieve the initial Hillgrove Exploration Target.”
Heeks said given the company has demonstrated the increasing grade with depth from recent drilling, it believed its estimate to be “realistic”.
The exploration target at Eleanora-Garibaldi accounts for a 900m known strike length. It could contain between 1.43 and 1.71 million tonnes of mineralised material grading between 5.78g/t and 6.25g/t gold equivalent, translating to between 266,000 and 344,000 contained ounces.
Management noted that the down-dip extension of the Garibaldi workings towards the Brackins Spur target remains largely untested and represents a zone of interest for future exploration.
At Metz, between 1.38 to 1.84 million tonnes at a whopping grade of between 9.1g/t and 12.46g/t gold equivalent has been estimated in the exploration target. It equates to between 404,000 and 737,000 ounces of gold equivalent.
Mining at Hillgrove can be traced back to the 1870s, with more than 740,000 ounces of gold and about 40,000 tonnes of antimony produced from historical operations. It is believed to be Australia’s biggest antimony deposit and possibly one of the largest in the world.
Larvotto acquired Hillgrove late last year for a bargain purchase price of less than $6 per ounce. Notably, the project includes a processing plant with 250,000 tonnes per annum capacity, as well as associated infrastructure.
According to the company, more than 15km of untested mineralised trends are found within the 254-square-kilometre landholdings, with all prospective exploration areas in proximity to the processing plant.
The vast exploration target at Hillgrove appears to be a boon for Larvotto as the company looks to add even more ounces to its hefty resource base at the project. If recent drilling at Bakers Creek is anything to go by, the group’s gold and antimony hunt in NSW has only just begun.
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By Bart Bogacz
