Hillgrove Resources a step closer to first revenues as copper concentrate containers arrive at Port Adelaide

410 ‘rotainers’ have arrived at Port Adelaide in preparation to transport copper concentrate from Hillgrove’s Kanmantoo project
The first containers of concentrate will be collected from Kanmantoo early in the new year
Containers will provide storage for up to 12,000wmt

Special Report: Hillgrove Resources has welcomed the arrival of the first copper concentrate containers at Port Adelaide ahead of production restarting at Kanmantoo in the Adelaide Hills early next year.

The fully funded Stage 1 development of the Kanmantoo underground mine will access about 4.5Mt of project’s current underground resource of almost 7Mt to produce 43,500t of copper and 11,500oz of gold over 45 months.

Capex is a low $25m – thanks to existing infrastructure such as the 3.6Mtpa processing facility – while all-in sustaining cost is just $8051/t of copper equivalent.

Hillgrove Resources (ASX:HGO) is targeting first copper production from the revived Kanmantoo operation in the first quarter of 2024.

‘Rotainers’ dock at Port Adelaide

As preparations for the proposed restart at Kanmantoo continue, 410 rotatable containers known as ‘rotainers’ have arrived at Port Adelaide.

The rotainers are specially designed containers that rotate as they are lifted above the ship, enabling the concentrate to fall directly into the hull of the ship for bulk transport.

They also provide storage for up to 12,000wmt, enabling excess storage capacity above planned shipments of around 11,000wmt.

HGO says this design minimises dust and spillage, whilst also enabling control of concentrate blending at the load port.

Trucks to collect first containers in ’24 

Local transport company, Whittam Transport, has been awarded a contract for the initial four-year mine life to transport copper concentrate from Kanmantoo to Port Adelaide.

Whittam successfully transported concentrate in similar rotainers over a 10-year period when the Kanmantoo open pit was in operation.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Whittam Transport as we restart the operations at Kanmantoo,” HGO CEO and managing director Lachlan Wallace says.

“Based locally, Whittam Transport moved over 650k tonnes of copper concentrate from Kanmantoo to Port Adelaide without incident during the open pit operations.

“I am looking forward to seeing their trucks roll up to collect the first containers of concentrate from Kanmantoo early in the New Year.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Hillgrove Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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