Heeks said the bond was sufficient to cover the expected budget to expand and start mining at Hillgrove and will ensure operations get underway in the second quarter of 2026.
He added the successful bond issue would provide a simple path forward as it is covenant-light and does not include items such as metal hedges, royalties or marketing fees.
The project financing was completed only weeks after the release of the Hillgrove definitive feasibility study which valued the project’s net present value at $694 million using an 8 per cent discount rate. The study assumed metal prices of US$2850 (A$4384) per ounce of gold and US$41,000 (A$63,076) per tonne of antimony..
When Larvotto flips the switch on operations at its Hillgrove project – home to a 1.97-million-ounce gold equivalent resource grading 7.2 grams per tonne (g/t) – it expects to churn out an annual production of 40,566 ounces of gold and 4878t of antimony over an 8.2-year mine life.
The total resource sits at 1.13 million ounces of gold and 96,000t of antimony, including a 636,000-ounce gold equivalent ore reserve at 6.6g/t, positioning Hillgrove as a high-grade, dual commodity play.
The bond issue was managed by Clarksons Securities, issued via Larvotto subsidiary Hillgrove Mines and has a 12 per cent coupon. Repayments include interest-only payments for the first two years, followed by amortisation over years three and four, with a final bullet payment in July 2029.
Larvotto is progressing a further Mod 5 approval process to increase Hillgrove’s processing capacity from 250,000 tonnes to 500,000t per year and to permit dry-stack tails storage, which would further boost the project’s outlook.
With robust antimony and gold fundamentals and strong institutional backing, Larvotto is well-positioned to advance Hillgrove towards production in 2026 and contribute to global critical metal supply chains.
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