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Doug Bright
Larvotto Resources has delivered a suite of exceptional, high-grade gold-antimony-tungsten intercepts from ongoing diamond drilling at the Metz Mining Centre (MMC), part of its 100 per cent owned Hillgrove Project in New South Wales. The results significantly expand the mineralised footprint of the system while validating the structural predictability of a multi-lode network which is increasingly looking like a cornerstone of future mine-life extension.
The latest assays arrive at a pivotal operational juncture for Larvotto. Following the company’s first ore delivery to stockpiles in May and formal commercial production kicking off in late August, the processing plant achieved a key production milestone with its first flotation concentrate in September. Ramping up towards steady-state nameplate capacity, Hillgrove is structurally configured to supply an estimated 7 per cent of global antimony demand, representing over 50 per cent of critical mineral supply originating outside China-controlled fields.
While Larvotto is solidifying logistics under secure multi-year offtake agreements with Wogen Resources and Glencore, its exploration crews are steadily mapping out the broader system’s geological upside.
Four active diamond rigs targeting depth extensions beneath historical workings have returned spectacular structural intercepts across several key lodes, with key results from the current round of drilling including one hole boring out 20.5m assaying 9.4g/t gold equivalent from 199m in the Blacklode structure, including 6.2m at 27.2g/t gold equivalent from 207.6m.
‘The discovery of the high-grade Echidna Lode, directly adjacent to other lodes, provides a new target for follow-up drilling.’
Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks
That standout Blacklode hit confirms the down-dip continuity of broad, high-grade mineralised shoots extending directly beneath areas currently classified as inferred resources. That geometry remains fully outside the current Hillgrove ore reserve and indicates strong scope for near-term resource conversion.
Another drill hole put into Midas Gully also gave up similarly broad high-grade mineralisation, with a solid 20-metre hit going 6.7g/t gold equivalent, including 8m going 11.8g/t gold equivalent from 342.5m depth.
A third hole drilled into the Endurance lode, an estimated 130m north of Blacklode, delivered 3.4m grading 13.7g/t gold equivalent from 109.6m and 2m assaying a stout 15.0g/t gold equivalent from a depth of 120m.
Concurrently, stepping out to test for other parallel structural splays, Larvotto’s drilling hit immediate success when a fourth hole intersected a previously unrecognised, near-surface structure the company has dubbed the Echidna Lode.
Striking northwest-southeast and parallel to the Blacklode and Endurance structure and obliquely to the main Midas trend, Echidna has revealed a shallow zone of 11.2m assaying 6.7g/t gold equivalent from just 63 metres downhole, including 3.2m assaying 17.5g/t gold equivalent from 71m, with narrower internal pockets spiking up to 28.6g/t gold equivalent.
Larvotto’s high-grade exploration momentum mirrors the company’s recent achievements north at its Clarks Gully resource, 4.3km north of Blacklode, where late-September results confirmed gold and antimony values are steadily increasing at depth alongside a significant emerging tungsten footprint.
Recent standout hits at Clarks Gully reached a peak result of 32m running 5.68g/t gold equivalent and exceptional standalone tungsten pockets grading up to 11.13 per cent tungsten trioxide, which has prompted more advanced planning for a possible underground satellite feed source.
Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks said: “These latest results continue to demonstrate the significant scale, continuity and growth potential of the Metz Mining Centre. Importantly, we are now consistently intersecting multiple high-grade gold-antimony-tungsten lodes across a growing mineralised footprint, while also discovering new mineralised structures outside the current resource model.”
Heeks added that drilling at Midas Gully and Endurance continues to demonstrate excellent continuity and predictability of mineralisation and that the discovery of the high-grade Echidna Lode, directly adjacent to other lodes, provides a new target for follow-up drilling.
With four diamond drill rigs operating and assays still pending for an additional 17 completed holes, Larvotto is rapidly closing in on a maiden resource estimate for Midas Gully while also continuing to demonstrate the broad potential of the Metz Mining Centre to contribute to future growth at Hillgrove.
By successfully blending a rapid production ramp-up with high-conviction discovery drilling across a 900-metre strike corridor, Larvotto appears to be laying down an incredibly robust pathway toward a multi-decade critical minerals hub.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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