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Larvotto expands high-grade gold-antimony zone at Hillgrove as tungsten prices surge

Drilling at Clarks Gully reveals multiple new lodes and a high-grade tungsten intercept amid a rally in strategic mineral prices

By LineZotpaper
Published
Read Time2 min
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Larvotto Resources has significantly extended the mineralised envelope at its Hillgrove antimony-gold project in New South Wales, with drilling at the Clarks Gully prospect returning thick high-grade intercepts outside the existing resource. The results include a strong tungsten intersection that comes as prices for the strategic metal have surged more than tenfold over the past 18 months on Chinese export controls and rising defence demand.

The latest diamond drilling at Clarks Gully has delivered intercepts including 32 metres at 5.68 grams per tonne gold equivalent from 260 metres downhole depth, with an 8-metre core grading 13.77 g/t gold equivalent. A second hole returned 29.1 metres at 6.06 g/t gold equivalent from 339.4 metres, including an 8.7-metre section at 14.83 g/t gold equivalent.

Beyond extending the main lode, the program uncovered multiple new high-grade hanging wall lodes, pointing to a much broader, stacked mineralised system than previously understood. One new lode featured a 4.4-metre intercept at 12.81 g/t gold equivalent from 157.8 metres, with a 0.4-metre bonanza-grade zone of 90.99 g/t gold equivalent.

A standout result was a tungsten intercept of 0.4 metres at 11.13 per cent tungsten trioxide. The timing coincides with a sharp rally in tungsten prices: seaborne tungsten concentrate rose from around US$300 per metric tonne unit (mtu) in early 2025 to over US$3,000/mtu by mid-2026, driven by Chinese export controls and rising defence-related demand.

Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks said the company has initiated the permitting process for a very low footprint underground operation at Clarks Gully. The results confirm a thickening, multi-lode system that the company expects to add to the Hillgrove mine's production profile.

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Analysis

Why This Matters

  • The drilling results suggest Hillgrove's resource base may be significantly larger than previously modelled, potentially extending the mine life and boosting production.
  • Tungsten's price surge, driven by Chinese export controls and defence demand, adds a valuable by-product stream to the gold-antimony operation.
  • Strategic minerals critical to defence and electronics have become a geopolitical focus, making domestic supply sources in Australia more valuable.

Background

The Hillgrove mine in New South Wales is a producing operation that extracts gold and antimony, a metal used in flame retardants and certain electronics. The Clarks Gully prospect lies within the project area but outside the current resource envelope. Antimony has also seen price increases due to supply constraints. The global tungsten market has been tightening as China, which dominates production, has imposed export restrictions, while defence applications such as armour penetrators and missile components have driven demand. Australia has several tungsten deposits, but production is limited.

Key Perspectives

Larvotto Resources: The company sees the results as confirming a major extension of the mineralised system and is moving to permit a low-footprint underground operation at Clarks Gully, aiming to bring it into production quickly. Commodity markets: A sustained tungsten price rally could make development of the Clarks Gully tungsten zone highly profitable, though the intercept is an early-stage result requiring further drilling to define its size and grade. Geopolitical analysts: Chinese export controls on tungsten and other strategic minerals have spurred a search for non-Chinese supply sources. Australian projects could benefit from policy support for critical minerals development.

What to Watch

  • Progress of permitting for the Clarks Gully underground operation.
  • Further drilling results to define the extent and continuity of the hanging wall lodes and the tungsten zone.
  • Tungsten price trends and any policy changes from China regarding export restrictions.
  • Whether Larvotto updates its mineral resource estimate for Hillgrove to include the new zones.

Sources

Zotpaper

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