Mining contractors have mobilised to develop Hillgrove Resources’ Nugent underground deposit within the Kanmantoo copper mine in South Australia.
With equipment and labour on-site, Nugent is gearing up to be processed through the mill in the December quarter of 2025.
Redpath Mining has been contracted as the primary labour provider for Nugent, with PJL, who are longstanding onsite operators, to supply and maintain mining equipment.
“It is pleasing to see all resources, including labour and equipment have mobilised and ready to commence the accelerated development of the Nugent decline, especially considering the new high-grade intersections from our recent drilling, as outlined in our announcement to the market on 24 March 2025,” Hillgrove chief executive officer and managing director Bob Fulker said.
“This is a critical stage in the production ramp up over the next 12 months and will also provide additional platforms to accelerate our diamond drilling targeted at Nugent,” he said.
The mobilisation of contractors comes after Hillgrove raised $16 million to fund Nugent’s development in March 2025.
Works at Nugent are set to expand the site’s processing capacity from a 1.4 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) run rate to 1.8Mtpa of throughput by the first half of 2026.
Recent assays at Nugent includes results of up to 18.55m at 5.69 per cent copper and 1.02 grams per tonne gold. In March, the Kanmantoo mine brought in record copper production of 1105 tonnes (t), processing 116,000t of ore at a grade of 1.01 per cent copper and a 94.2 per cent recovery rate.
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