Emily Star copper and Australian critical minerals: key takeaways for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Hillgrove Resources has reported further high-grade copper from underground drilling at the Emily Star lode within the Kanmantoo project in South Australia, supporting plans to restart underground mining beneath the former open pit. ABx Group is progressing product development at its Deep Leads rare earths project in northern Tasmania, advancing towards commercialisation of clay-hosted REE products. Amara Minerals has secured new funding to advance antimony exploration, signalling continued investor appetite for critical mineral prospects across Australian brownfield and greenfield sites.
Technical Brief
- Similar Australian mining projects are increasingly coupling drilling with early metallurgical testwork to shorten feasibility timelines.
Our Take
Hillgrove Resources’ continued copper success at Emily Star and Kanmantoo comes on the back of record production and lower unit costs at Kanmantoo reported in February 2026, suggesting any new high-grade discoveries can be monetised relatively quickly through existing underground infrastructure.
Our database shows Hillgrove Resources featuring repeatedly in recent copper exploration round-ups across Australia, signalling that the company is shifting from a single-mine story at Kanmantoo towards a broader South Australian copper portfolio that now also includes the Mutooroo farm-in.
With both copper and rare earths appearing as keywords in our coverage, the combination of ABx Group’s Deep Leads rare earth project and Hillgrove’s copper assets in one exploration round-up underlines how Australian juniors are increasingly pairing base metals with critical minerals to appeal to energy-transition focused investors.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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