Larvotto Resources has secured an exclusive option to acquire the Blockade mine, a successful historic copper operation strategically enclosed by the company's existing Mt Isa tenements in northwest Queensland.
The 152.7-hectare Blockade mining lease, 41 kilometres east-northeast of Mount Isa, initially fed silica flux - running up to 70 per cent silica - to the Mt Isa Smelter from the early 1900s.
The mine then transitioned to high-grade copper ore extraction from a shallow oxide pit mined by Mt Isa Mines in the 1980s, before the mining giant eventually walked away, leaving significant upside in unmined zones.
The Blockade project aligns perfectly with Larvotto's vision for a regional hub-and-spoke development. It also benefits from close proximity to world-class infrastructure and the massively productive Mt Isa copper belt - home to Glencore's flagship operation, which produces 300,000 tonnes per annum of copper cathode.
Private vendor Kilo Copper completed about 4000m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling between 2010 and 2011, defining broad mineralised envelopes which enclose high-grade core lodes.
Kilo’s work confirmed that surface copper carbonates and oxide breccias overlie deeper sulphides dominated by copper sulphides including chalcopyrite and iron sulphide, with continuous minor native copper evident along strike and down-dip.
Mineralisation runs along a northwest-trending fault that dips steeply at about 70 degrees to the southwest. It sits within a slim band of actinolite schist, with tougher quartzite and greywacke rocks on either side. Drilling has only probed the system down to 100m depth, although it still appears to remain open in every direction.
Historical drilling analyses acquired from Kilo Copper’s drilling between July 2010 and June 2011 underscore the deposit's quality and potential.
Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks said: “Acquiring the Blockade Mine that was previously mined for High Grade copper by Mount Isa Mines Ltd has been a strategic priority that we have pursued over several years to complement our Mt Isa portfolio. Blockade, which we surround, has the potential to form an integral part of a regional hub-and-spoke operation and serve as the basis of near-term copper production from the existing mine.”
The top drill hole from the program delivered a very respectable intercept of 71m assaying 1.63 per cent copper and 484 parts per million (ppm) cobalt from 29m, including 37m going 2.48 per cent copper and 604ppm cobalt from 29m.
The second best hit gave up 70m at 1.36 per cent copper and 397ppm cobalt from 72m, with an included 10m at 3.21 per cent copper and 953ppm cobalt from 73m.
The third best copper intercept of the program came from a 12m intercept going 4.31 per cent copper and 54ppm cobalt from 14m, within a broader run of 26m at 2.36 per cent copper and 89ppm cobalt from 5m depth.
Three top cobalt assays from two separate holes included 7m at 1075ppm, which included 3m grading 1119ppm in one hole, while a second hole delivered 2m going at 1081ppm cobalt.
Larvotto plans to immediately kick off diligence drilling, with a targeted six-hole program of about 1500m of RC drilling to validate Kilo's hits, extend mineralisation northwest along strike, scout parallel faults and chase deeper sulphide copper mineralisation below 100m vertical depth.
Results, which are expected to be delivered early in the first quarter of next, will feed preliminary resource modelling to firm up the $1 million acquisition cost to be funded by cash and/or shares - at Larvotto’s choice - following a $400,000 exploration commitment. The initial acquisition cost will be topped up with further production- based payments, capped at $10M.
If validated, Blockade could fast-track Larvotto's Mt Isa presence from green-fields to a near-term producer, complementing its flagship Hillgrove antimony-gold project in New South Wales.
The company recently found itself in headlines after rejecting a US$723M (A$1.1 billion) takeover bid from US antimony processor, United States Antimony Corporation. Larvotto believed the offer vastly undervalued its NSW Hillgrove gold-antimony project with 1.7 million ounce gold equivalent resource and a feasibility economics study which, from its mid-case pricing scenario, delivers an average annual EBITDA of $250M over an 8.2-year mine life.
With copper prices holding strong amid global supply strains and Blockade sitting in the heart of Australia’s premier copper province, Larvotto’s low-capex entry looks ready to position the company for scalable growth in a Tier-1 district.
The company’s fast-tracked validation drilling could rapidly convert the historical high-grade drill hits into a modern resource to deliver another potential spoke in the company’s emerging Mt Isa hub-and-spoke production strategy and shine a new spotlight onto Mt Isa's next copper chapter.
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By Doug Bright
