Larvotto’s Hillgrove antimony–gold restart: supply, capex and risk notes for mine planners
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Larvotto Resources has restarted the historic Hillgrove mine in New South Wales as a gold–antimony operation, targeting 4,900 tonnes of antimony and 40,500 oz of gold per year over an initial eight-year mine life. The project is expected to supply about 7% of global antimony demand and more than half of non-Chinese output, making Larvotto Australia’s largest antimony producer alongside Alkane Resources’ Costerfield mine. Acquired for A$8 million in 2023, including a A$5-million environmental bond, Hillgrove’s rapid restart comes despite antimony prices falling to less than half their May 2025 peak of $59,000/t.
Technical Brief
- Acquisition cost was A$8 million, including a A$5‑million environmental bond for legacy liabilities.
- Hillgrove was discovered in 1857 and operated intermittently, with modern production from 1969 to 2014.
- The 2014 shutdown was driven by low antimony prices, indicating strong price sensitivity in project economics.
- Larvotto initiated the restart process only in mid‑2023 after approaching the mine’s administrators.
- No competing bidders emerged for Hillgrove, suggesting limited appetite for antimony‑exposed brownfield assets.
- Larvotto’s market capitalisation rose to about A$597 million on restart news, from an A$8‑million entry price.
- Antimony prices peaked above $59,000/t in May 2025, then fell to less than half within a year.
- CRU Group attributes the price decline to substitution and new supply sources, complicating long‑term price assumptions.
Our Take
Larvotto Resources’ move into antimony at Hillgrove in New South Wales sits alongside its copper-focused consolidation in Queensland’s Mt Isa region (via the planned Hammer Metals acquisition), signalling a deliberate critical-minerals portfolio spanning both gold‑antimony and copper hubs in Australia.
The expected 7% share of global antimony demand from Hillgrove, combined with Larvotto’s seven‑year mine‑gate offtake for gold concentrate from the same asset (covered in our June 9 piece), likely gives the company stronger leverage in future offtake or financing talks for its Mt Isa copper projects.
Within our 1284 Mining stories, antimony appears far less frequently than gold, so Hillgrove’s restart in Australia adds one of the relatively few non‑China, non‑Russia supply nodes in our coverage, which could be material for downstream users looking to diversify away from those dominant producing countries.
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.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
CMRR-io
Streamline coal mine roof stability assessments with our cloud-based CMRR software featuring automated calculations, multi-scenario analysis, and collaborative workflows.
HYDROGEO-io
Comprehensive hydrogeological testing platform for managing, analysing, and reporting on packer tests, lugeon values, and hydraulic conductivity assessments.
GEODB-io
Centralised geotechnical data management solution for storing, accessing, and analysing all your site investigation and material testing data.


