Hillgrove Resources Discovers New High-Grade Copper-Gold Zone at Kanmantoo
Hillgrove Resources (ASX: HGO) continues to advance development of the Nugent extension at its Kanmantoo copper mine in South Australia, with recent work intersecting a new mineralised zone.
The company told attendees at the recent Diggers and Dealers event in Kalgoorlie that it was aiming to achieve a run rate of 1.7 to 1.8 million tonnes at Nugent in 2026, with resource extensional drilling a key part of its growth strategy.
Hillgrove’s discovery of the new high-grade “saddle” zone during ongoing extensional drilling at Nugent comes as it prepares to release an updated mineral resources and ore reserves (MROR) estimate in Q4 2025.
Follow-Up Drilling
Drilling at the saddle zone returned multiple strong intersections, including 14 metres at 2.67% copper and 0.36 grams per tonne gold, as well as 10.2m at 1.28% copper and 0.18g/t gold.
Hillgrove is fast-tracking follow-up drilling to define the size, shape, and continuity of the new zone as it assesses the best way to include it in future operations.
The company will include these results – which it believes show how quickly exploration success can translate into new production opportunities – in the MROR update.
Kanmantoo Work Ongoing
Drilling continues across the Kanmantoo system, with the information to inform future planning of operational requirements for stope definition and development designs.
The company will target Emily Star from underground in the coming weeks, while also testing strike extensions at Critchley and Paringa.
Hillgrove had completed 34,702m of diamond drilling to the end of July, and says it is on track to achieve its stated target of 60,000m underground drilling by the end of the calendar year.
Upside Potential Remains
Chief executive officer Bob Fulker said the new zone highlights the upside potential that still exists at Kanmantoo.
“After nearly 20 years of drilling at Kanmantoo, it is exciting that we are still finding new deposits in familiar ground,” he said.
The new saddle zone lies right in the middle of Hillgrove’s operations between the Kavanagh and Nugent mining areas, and its proximity to existing infrastructure allows for easy access and follow up evaluation.
“Early results show strong copper grades, good widths, and some encouraging gold grades—several high-grade intersections at depth suggest this is not just a single good result but part of a larger mineralised system,” Mr Fulker added.