Larvotto’s Blockade bet lifts Mt Isa copper ambitions

Larvotto Resources (ASX: LRV) has secured an exclusive option to acquire the historic Blockade copper mine in northwest Queensland, Australia, in a deal the company says could shift its Mt Isa ground from exploration to near-term production.The 152.7-hectare Blockade mining lease, located 41 kilometres east-northeast of Mount Isa, originally supplied high-silica flux to the Mt Isa Smelter in the early 1900s. It later produced high-grade copper ore from a shallow oxide pit mined by Mt Isa Mines in the 1980s. The major eventually walked away, leaving untested zones and deeper sulphide potential that Larvotto now aims to assess.Blockade sits entirely inside Larvotto’s existing Mt Isa tenure, aligning with the company’s plan for a regional hub-and-spoke model tied into one of the world’s most productive copper belts and close to established infrastructure. Managing director Ron Heeks said the acquisition has been a long-term target for the company, noting that Blockade “has the potential to form an integral part of a regional hub-and-spoke operation and serve as the basis of near-term copper production from the existing mine.”Site assessmentLarvotto will start due-diligence drilling immediately, launching a six-hole, 1,500-metre RC program to validate historic results, test mineralisation along strike and probe for sulphides below 100 metres. Results are expected early in the first quarter of next year and will support preliminary resource modelling.The option terms include a $1 million acquisition cost, payable in cash or shares at Larvotto’s discretion, following a $400,000 exploration commitment. Production-based payments could bring the total to a maximum of $10 million. Heeks said the known copper system at Blockade remains open in all directions and that historic drilling “has identified deeper sulphide copper potential,” adding that the program is designed to “assess the scale of the system.”If confirmed, Blockade would give Larvotto a low-capex entry into production in a region backed by firm copper prices and tightening global supply, complementing its flagship Hillgrove antimony-gold project in New South Wales.Rejected takeoverLarvotto recently rejected a $723 million (A$1.1 billion) takeover bid from United States Antimony Corporation, arguing the offer undervalued Hillgrove, which hosts a 1.7-million-ounce gold-equivalent resource and is expected to generate an average annual EBITDA of $250 million over an 8.2-year mine life. The company aims to produce 5,400 tonnes of antimony annually at Hillgrove starting in the second quarter of 2026, equal to about 7% of global output.Heeks said while Hillgrove has been the focus, the company’s confidence in the copper potential at Mt Isa “remains unchanged” and that Blockade could shift the project from greenfield status to a credible development path.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com