Larvotto Resources has pulled back the curtain on a prospective third revenue stream at its Hillgrove gold-antimony project in NSW, with initial metallurgical testwork delivering a thumping 90 per cent tungsten recovery for the high-demand strategic concentrate product.
The news follows recent assays from its Freehold prospect that delivered the surprise of tungsten grades alongside broad, high-grade antimony-gold zones. On receiving the results company quickly begun painting the picture of a new tungsten system which presented some serious economic potential.
Larvotto says its first-pass rougher flotation captured 90 per cent of the tungsten on average for a sixteen-fold grade upgrade in the concentrate, with losses to tailings so low they were often below detection limit.
Adding some serious kicker to the bottom-line potential, the testwork confirmed that the existing Hillgrove plant already contains an unused tungsten gravity circuit, meaning the company can bolt on a saleable scheelite concentrate (tungsten-calcium ore) line for peanuts in extra capex and almost no additional operating cost to the company.
The result turns what was already a compelling tungsten bonus into a near-certainty cash generator, just as the metal approaches record all-time highs.
The independent analysis showed scheelite floating sharply alongside its calcite impurity, with Larvotto confident it will pull the coarse scheelite from gold flotation tailings via the identified dormant gravity line before a simple flotation finish.
At a time when Western nations are scrambling for non-Chinese tungsten supply – 82 per cent of global supply is from China – global prices are pushing well past $600 per tonne, adding a handy sweetener to Hillgrove’s already exclusive antimony-gold concentrate.
Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks said: “Whilst tungsten has historically been mined with antimony and gold at Hillgrove as it is usually present in the same veins, it has never been extracted in the process plant. However, given this year’s record-high tungsten prices, as well as the Hillgrove processing plant already containing a dedicated tungsten gravity circuit that was never utilised, we decided to investigate the viability of tungsten recovery as a byproduct alongside gold and antimony.”
Hillgrove’s tungsten resource currently sits at 4774 tonnes of contained WO3 (tungsten oxide) at 0.05 per cent grade, predominantly within its Freehold and Brackins Spur prospects, which are still wide open for resource growth.
The economic kicker is brutal in the best way with every extra dollar of tungsten revenue dropping almost directly to the bottom line because the metal will be liberated from ore that is already being mined and milled for gold and antimony.
At 90 per cent recovery and at current prices, the existing tungsten inventory alone adds some serious value to a project which already was boasting a spot-price NPV of a whopping $1.27 billion on gold at US$3500 an ounce and antimony at US$60,000 per tonne.
Four rigs continue to churn through the project’s Freehold, Metz and Swamp Creek prospects chasing extensions to gold-antimony lodes that keep throwing up regular tungsten surprises.
The company says construction of its 525,000 tonne per annum plant is roaring ahead, fully funded via the US$105m bond ($160m) and a recent $60m raise, with first gold and antimony pours locked in for the second quarter of next year.
Larvotto expects to pump out 40,500 ounces of gold and 4878t of antimony annually for at least eight years from Hillgrove and now a healthy slug of scheelite concentrate on top.
Hillgrove seems to be the gift that keeps on giving with upside layers continuing to pile on. Its negative all-in-sustaining-cost for gold production, quite incredibly looks like it will fall even further into negative territory thanks to its new tungsten-dimension, with bottom line figures likely to be the envy of the market. Larvotto is now only months away from first pour at what is shaping up to be one of the Western world’s rare multi-commodity critical metals powerhouses.
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By Andrew Todd
