Modern Mining December 2024

COMMODITY OUTLOOK

Antimony price forecast (Source: Reuters).

considerable antimony deposits, particularly in the Kadoma region. Small-scale mining has been ongoing, although significantly hindered by limited infrastructure and funding. Morocco is another African nation with promising antimony resources. The country’s deposits, primarily located in the Anti Atlas Mountains, have attracted attention from international investors such as Critical Mineral Resources, which acquired 26 permits in January 2024 for prospective areas thought to contain antimony. Despite prospective mineral reserves, developing antimony mining in Africa faces several challenges. The continent’s mining sector is often hampered by inadequate infrastructure, political instability, and regulatory uncertainty. These challenges also present opportunities. With proper investment in infrastructure, technology, and governance, Africa could position itself as a powerhouse in the global antimony market. Larvotto Resources: strengthening global supply Amidst this backdrop, Australian mining company Larvotto Resources emerges as a pivotal player in the antimony market. With its flagship project approaching near term production, Larvotto is poised to attract significant investment and become a new, low-cost global antimony producer that will supply about 7% of world production. Amongst its portfolio is the Hillgrove Gold-Antimony Project – a world-class antimony deposit encompassing a significant area of historically productive mines. Being the largest antimony deposit in Australia and one of the top 10 in the world, the project has already demonstrated high-grade antimony reserves through extensive drilling and exploration activities. According to the updated Mineral Resource for the PFS Ore Reserve, Hillgrove boasts a deposit of 7 264kt at 4.4g/t gold and 1.3% antimony. Being a gold mine that produces antimony as a secondary product, Hillgrove’s operations

Inspecting and preparing the core.

provide a dual revenue stream for the company. Only seven months after acquiring the project in December 2023, Larvotto Resources released a positive PFS at the start of August 2024. The results position Hillgrove as a technically and economically viable project, yielding low operating costs with a significantly high-margin production target profile. On average, Larvotto is targeting 5.4kt base annual production of antimony, with an estimated 37.7kt to be recovered across the

10  MODERN MINING  www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | DECEMBER 2024