Hillgrove Resources has successfully loaded and dispatched its first shipment from the Kanmantoo copper mine in South Australia.
This initial shipment included 10,099 wet metric tonnes of copper concentrate, accumulated since processing began in February 2024.
“Seeing the first shipment of copper concentrate from the Kanmantoo underground set sail for Lianyungang, China, was a significant milestone for the company,” stated Hillgrove chief executive officer and managing director Lachlan Wallace. “Achieving the first shipment less than 12 months since operations commenced at Kanmantoo is a testament to the teams’ dedication and is yet another example of their ability to deliver the key objectives in the mine’s development. As production at Kanmantoo continues to ramp up to the planned rate, the frequency of shipments will increase.”
Wallace noted that the timing of the shipment was particularly advantageous, coinciding with record-high copper prices. “The higher price not only results in greater revenue from the existing plan but potentially enables mineralisation that was previously sub-economic to be brought into an expanded mine plan, resulting in more copper being produced and sold into the higher price environment,” he said.
The Kanmantoo mine was originally closed in 1976 due to rising copper mining costs. Hillgrove began rehabilitating the site in 2007 following a definitive feasibility study, with production resuming in late 2011. Since its initial closure, Hillgrove has identified an additional indicated and inferred mineral resource of 34.5 million tonnes, grading 0.6 percent copper and 0.1 grams of gold per tonne.