Larvotto Resources reports recoverable antimony, gold from tailings at Hillgrove

Larvotto Resources (ASX: LRV) said Thursday results from its initial metallurgical flotation testwork on material from tailings storage facility 1 (TSF1) at its 100%-owned Hillgrove antimony-gold project in New South Wales.  

Initial flotation testwork on TSF1 tailings achieved 80–95% antimony and 40–75% gold recoveries, the company said.  

The results confirm that residual antimony and gold within the approximately 1.4 million tonne legacy tailings facility are recoverable using the same conventional flotation methods being deployed in the Hillgrove plant, scheduled to commence production in August 2026.  

TSF1 was used to store tailings produced over an ~20-year period from a plant designed for the recovery of antimony. As such, the TSF1 material contains significant quantities of gold and tungsten, in addition to minor antimony.  

 “These results are a genuine milestone for Hillgrove. The testwork confirms that the legacy tailings contain commercially meaningful grades of antimony and gold, and that they respond well to the same flotation methods we are deploying in the upgraded plant,” managing director Ron Heeks said in a news release. 

“The pathway is becoming very clear; reprocess the tailings, recover the metals, and simultaneously rehabilitate a facility that sits adjacent to a 500-metre gorge,” Heeks said.  

“That environmental outcome matters both to the project and to the broader community. We are now moving quickly through the cleaner flotation work and resource estimation process.” 

Last year, the company reported 90% tungsten recovery with a 16X increase in feed grade delivered in metallurgical testwork, which it said also indicates a simple and cost-effective processing circuit would produce a saleable tungsten concentrate.