Hillgrove nabs a record at Kanmantoo

Hillgrove Resources achieved a record monthly copper production of 1105 tonnes (t) at its Kanmantoo mine in February, making it the company’s highest output since underground processing began in February 2024.

This achievement comes as Hillgrove processed 116,000t of ore at a grade of 1.01 per cent copper and a 94.2 per cent recovery rate at the South Australian mine.

The company also recorded 584m of development, achieving a new record daily average for a month.

Hillgrove’s latest figures outshine the company’s December 2024 quarterly average, which saw 879 tonnes of copper produced per month.

Hillgrove managing director and chief executive officer Bob Fulker said the results reflect the company’s ongoing operational improvements and efficiency gains.

“I am pleased to report continued improvement in our mine physicals which has seen a record achieved for copper production in February, despite February being a 28-day month,” Fulker said.

“In addition, there were record daily averages for both development and ore mining. The excellent operational delivery in these key metrics shows our continual improvement and debottlenecking of the mine that is delivering tangible results.

“We are confident mine performance will continue to strengthen, as we accelerate the development of (the) Nugent (deposit).”

Hillgrove said its 2025 production outlook is on-track for 12,000–14,000t of copper, with further growth expected in 2026 through Nugent’s development.

In October 2024, the company reported a 138 per cent increase in contained gold and 96 per cent increase in contained copper at Kanmantoo.

The mineral resource estimate (MRE) for Kanmantoo now sits at 19.3 million tonnes (Mt) grading at 0.77 per cent of copper and 0.14 grams per tonne of gold, containing 150,000t of copper and 82,000 ounces of gold.

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