Source : THE AGE NEWS
By Craig Nolan
United States President Donald Trump’s executive order to streamline the approval process for key US mineral projects, which includes an antimony play, will help highlight the antimony value at Larvotto Resources’ Hillgrove project in New South Wales.
The National Energy Dominance Council this week identified the first 10 projects placed on the country’s Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council dashboard, which puts them on a streamlined track to development.
Larvotto Resources Hillgrove project in New South Wales may benefit from a growing demand for the critical mineral antimony, as part of a reliable supply chain for vital minerals needed by Western nations.
Known as transparency projects, they form the first wave to receive expedited permitting under the government’s FAST-41 initiative, a move aimed at bolstering domestic production of critical minerals.
The priority list included Perpetua Resources’ stibnite-gold project, which was chosen for its antimony mineralisation. Antimony is an important critical mineral used in defence, energy and clean technology applications.
Larvotto’s Hillgrove antimony-gold project in central NSW is the largest antimony deposit in Australia and one of the few near-term, large-scale antimony deposits in the Western world.
Hillgrove’s resource consists of 7.264 million tonnes for 93,000t of antimony grading at 1.3 per cent and 1.036 million ounces of gold at a grade of 4.4 grams per tonne (g/t) for a total gold-equivalent resource of 1.7M ounces at 7.4g/t.
The project is expected to produce a gold-antimony concentrate for export, which could support the manufacture of vital global defence equipment, such as ammunition and night-vision equipment.
The Hillgrove project has been recognised internationally. The US Department of Defence has already endorsed the project and accepted Larvotto into America’s important Defence Industrial Base Consortium.
Larvotto is targeting first ore from the Hillgrove project in early 2026 and expects to produce 5400t of antimony per annum, equal to about 7 per cent of anticipated world demand at the time of first production.
The company says projects of Hillgrove’s ilk are essential for the West to secure supply chains and assist with defence and technological advancements.
The initial 10 projects will benefit from a streamlined, transparent review and approval process, as the US looks to advance domestic production and reduce its reliance on hostile foreign nations for critical minerals. Further projects are expected to be added to the key list soon.
President Trump released the executive order in late March outlining measures to increase American mineral production by identifying projects where immediate action could facilitate domestic production of vast US resources to create jobs and boost prosperity.
The permitting committee says the new approach will increase accountability and predictability of the permit review and approvals process, and companies will have access to increased interagency transparency, co-ordination and oversight of their applications.
A dashboard listing ensures the environmental review and authorisation process and its current status will be publicly available.
Having an antimony project on the list of first 10 projects is a fillip for the importance of the critical mineral to the mighty US government and, on its coat-tails, comes apparent confirmation of Larvotto’s Hillgrove project as a potentially vital source of supply.
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