Australian mining company Hillgrove Resources (ASX: HGO) has delivered high-grade copper and gold intercepts from an ongoing drilling campaign at its Kanmantoo copper mine in South Australia, with new drill results from the Nugent prospect pointing to a strong continuity of mineralisation.
Significant copper and gold intercepts
New hits at Nugent include 21.4m at 1.79 per cent copper and 0.65 grams per tonne gold from 185m, and 9.25m at 0.96 per cent copper and 0.75g/t gold from 136m.
Another hole returned 5.5m at 1.2 per cent copper and 0.35 g/t gold from 267m. Management noted that this result marks the deepest intercept at Nugent so far, sitting some 45m beneath the closest drill hole and 270m below the current Nugent pit.
Management added that the mineralised footprint remains open down plunge, reinforcing the potential for significant resource growth at Nugent and Kanmantoo.
The company plans to test the extent of this mineralised zone with further drilling.
Planned production at Nugent in 2025
Hillgrove is fast-tracking Nugent towards production with first ore from the target expected to be processed in the December quarter of this year.
The new copper and gold intercepts at Nugent add to “exceptional” results recently reported by the company. These included 18.55m at 5.69 per cent copper and 1.02 g/t gold, as well as 16m at 2.96 per cent copper and 0.42 g/t gold.
Hillgrove chief executive office and managing director, Bob Fulker, commented:
“The recent drilling results further confirm the continuity and depth potential of the Nugent copper-gold mineralisation system. The results continue to be higher than the Resource grade at Nugent, which is of course one of the reasons why we are fast tracking production from Nugent.”
Established mining project
The Kanmantoo underground mine operated as a series of open pits between 2010 and 2020, producing about 137,000 tonnes of copper and more than 55,000 ounces of gold.
Hillgrove launched underground mining at the project in May 2023 with commercial production attained last year.
The group produced 1,105 tonnes of copper in February 2025 which represents the highest monthly amount since processing from underground material commenced. It is guiding for between 12,000 and 14,000 tonnes of produced copper in 2025.
Exploration upside
So far, the company has defined a 19.3 million tonne resource grading 0.77 per cent copper and 0.14 g/t gold at Kanmantoo, including a 2.8 million tonne maiden reserve estimate grading 0.91 per cent copper and 0.15 g/t gold.
Hillgrove believes the project holds significant exploration upside due to the predictable nature of the mineralised system. The group has planned 60,000 metres of drilling for 2025 with a focus on reserve conversion, resource definition, and the discovery of new mineralised zones at Kanmantoo.