It means that at Hillgrove, structurally higher mineralisation typically has a higher antimony-to-gold ratio, with the latter being richer at depth.

Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks said: “The Clarks Gully deposit extends from surface and remains open at depth. Significantly, the mineralisation is open in all directions and there is great potential for it to extend to depth as all of the other deposits in the field do.”

With the existing Clarks Gully resource lying above 200m vertical depth, some of the resource – and any extensions to it – may be amenable to open-pit mining. Only a small part of the near-surface deposit has been mined previously for antimony and gold, by a small open pit in the 1980s.

The company is encouraged by previous significant drill intercepts at Clarks Gully, including 7m at 2.33g/t gold and 9.16 per cent antimony (30.82g/t gold equivalent) and 15m at 1.61g/t gold and 5.18 per cent antimony (17.73g/t gold equivalent).

Larvotto is planning to plunge into the existing Clarks Gully resource with an initial 5250m of reverse-circulation (RC) drilling on a 20m-spaced infill pattern to increase its confidence in the existing resource numbers and also, if possible, extend it both laterally and vertically.

The company’s objective is to increase and update its current resource estimate and convert a significant part of its measured and indicated resources into reserves categories. Management says that once the Clarks Gully program is underway, it will also take on diamond drilling at the Bakers Creek reef system in a bid to define more of the almost legendary high-grade gold there.

It also aims to test the geochemical anomalism south of the Clarks Gully resource area to try and extend mineralisation in that direction.

Given the host style at Hillgrove, where mineralisation is typically contained in strike and depth-persistent structures, Larvotto is confident about being able to amplify its Clarks Gully resource.

If successful, the shallow mineralisation at Clarks Gully – if proven to be economically feasible – could see Larvotto kicking off a new era of mining at the 1.4 million-ounce gold equivalent Hillgrove operation, ultimately giving it a solid leg-up to bigger riches.

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