Drilling is far from over too. Four rigs continue to churn through the metres at Freehold, along with targeted work at the company’s Metz prospect, 2 kilometres due west of the old plant and at its Swamp Creek prospect immediately to the east of Freehold – all part of a coordinated push to expand Hillgrove’s resource base.
At Metz, Larvotto is zeroing in on the point where the Blacklode and Syndicate systems collide – a junction long known for its stacked, high-grade lodes. Back at Freehold, the rotary truth teller will continue to conduct step-out drilling into the Smiths and Freehold East zones, while over at Swamp Creek the first holes are already plunging into a brand-new resistivity anomaly that looks ripe for a discovery.
Construction at Hillgrove is now roaring ahead. At the start of October, Larvotto locked in veteran plant builder MACA-Interquip-Mintrex to spearhead the refurbishment and expansion of the processing facility to a muscular 525,000-tonne-per-annum throughput.
The build is fully funded, courtesy of a US$105 million senior secured bond and a fresh A$60 million equity raise, sealing the A$140 million capital bill. Larvotto expects the plant to be completed and ready to pour first gold and antimony in the second quarter of 2026.
When the refurbished plant kicks into gear, the operation is forecast to churn out approximately 40,500 ounces of gold and 4,878 tonnes of antimony annually for at least eight years, all underpinned by a robust 606,000-ounce reserve grading 6g/t gold equivalent.
An updated definitive study in May, using spot assumptions of US$3500 gold and US$60,000 antimony, pegged Hillgrove’s net present value at a massive A$1.269 billion, delivering A$354 million in annual EBITDA and A$198 million of free cash flow. And that was before gold ripped higher again.
With the yellow metal now blasting past US$4000 an ounce, those earlier spot assumptions already look like a distant memory. Put simply, Hillgrove’s upside has widened dramatically and it’s getting harder by the day to guess just how much bigger the prize has become.
With antimony now firmly on Western critical minerals lists, gold hovering near record highs and tungsten tightening globally, Larvotto finds itself riding a commodity wave with a project whose infrastructure advantage puts it well ahead of most peers.
If the next rounds of assays keep landing like the new numbers out of Freehold, the company may be staring at the revival of Hillgrove as a multi-metal powerhouse for considerably longer than its current forecast 8 year minelife.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
