Larvotto locks in Mt Isa copper prize after drill win
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Doug Bright
Larvotto Resources pulled the trigger on an option on the historic Blockade copper mine near Mount Isa in Queensland after due diligence drilling confirmed extensive copper mineralization beneath the former open pit.
The company first secured the private option from private company Kilo Copper in December last year. Under the terms of the agreement, Larvotto now has the exclusive right to explore, develop and extract copper in the granted mining lease. In exchange, it will issue Kilo Copper with $400,000 worth of Larvotto shares calculated using the 12-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) prior to the option notice.
Larvotto also has the option to purchase 100 percent of the mining lease at any time for $1 million in cash, shares, or a mix of both. If ore is produced from the lease, a deferred price will also be paid, with a ceiling of 10 million dollars.
The company says the eight-hole, 1,330-meter reverse circulation program confirms historical results and shows that mineralization continues to be open-down and down-dip.
‘Blockade has the potential to become an important part of the regional hub-and-spoke copper production system in the near term.’
Larvotto Resources general manager Ron Heeks
Top results from due diligence drilling included a hole under the historic open pit intersected by a convincing 31-metre run that assayed 1.16 per cent copper from 63 metres, going 1.86 per cent copper from 78 meters in 8 metres, and a shallower 5-metre strike finding 1.3 per cent copper from 53 metres.
Again, under the old pit, 150 meters southeast of the first drilling and along its direction, a second hole was opened, 4 meters from 85 meters with 1.65 percent copper.
High-grade copper at up to 4.08 percent and cobalt at up to 0.14 percent were also intersected during drilling, Larvotto said, confirming high-grade zones within the broader mineralized system.
Blockade’s 152.7ha mining lease fits neatly into Larvotto’s growing Mt Isa copper portfolio, located 41 kilometers east-northeast of Australia’s most famous copper mining centre.
The company laid the foundations of its regional land ownership with the acquisition of Minotaur Resources’ Mt Isa project in 2020, and then expanded its footprint through a negotiated $1 million deal with Rio Tinto in 2021.
The former operation has a long history of small-scale production; It first supplies high-silica flux material to the Mount Isa smelter, then produces high-grade copper ore on its own.
Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks said: “Blockade is a cornerstone for our wider Mount Isa copper strategy; a mining lease with a history of production, high-grade mineralization confirmed to be open both strike and downdip is within our current mandate. Larvotto now has a proven track record of rapidly progressing projects towards development, as we have done at Hillgrove, and we hope to replicate this at Blockade.”
The option exercise introduces another copper route as part of Larvotto’s fast-growing Queensland strategy; This strategy received a major boost last month when the company entered into a binding agreement to acquire Hammer Metals and its Mount Isa project portfolio.
The planned Hammer acquisition will bring a resource base of more than 530,000 tonnes of copper equivalent metal to Hammer’s assets from the outset. These include the Kalman, Jubilee, Overlander, Elaine and Lakeview projects, with the first three carrying total endowments of at least 448,000 tonnes of copper equivalent.
Hammer’s land, including these projects, is either surrounded by Larvotto’s main land block or located within a radius of 23 to 109 km, mostly to the south and southeast.
The Queensland copper strategy is supported by a $15 million strategic placement into Glencore. This will run in tandem with Larvotto’s plan to start antimony-gold production at Hillgrove in New South Wales next month, giving the company a potential financial boost as it advances its Mount Isa copper ambitions.
Glencore acquired Mount Isa Mines in 2013 and, while it ceased underground operations at Mount Isa in July last year, continues to operate the Mount Isa copper smelter and Townsville copper refinery. In October the federal and Queensland governments agreed to provide up to $600 million over three years to support the continued operation of both facilities.
Larvotto’s immediate plans for the Blockade area include resource definition and phased drilling in the current quarter, followed by an initial mineral resource estimate, scoping study, permitting work and processing and haulage route assessments linked to existing Mount Isa infrastructure.
If the company can transform the former Blockade mine into a modern reboot story, the operation could become an early building block in the planned larger Mount Isa copper core-and-sleeve model at a time when the critical red metal still carries plenty of market heat.
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