PYBAR Mining Services crews have begun driving underground headings for Larvotto Resources at the Hillgrove antimony-gold project near Armidale in New South Wales this month, marking the formal restart of mine development that Larvotto says will underpin a return to production in 2026.
Less than three weeks after Christmas, trucks, jumbos and a 150-strong combined workforce were on the ground creating new declines and rehabilitating historic workings, putting the long-dormant Hillgrove operation back on a path toward regular ore deliveries for the first time in more than half a decade.
Hillgrove’s revival matters well beyond the mine gate. Australia is seeking to shore up domestic supplies of critical minerals such as antimony—classified as critical by the United States, the European Union and Australia—while state planners in New South Wales are encouraging new investment in regional mining hubs. Larvotto’s plan to reopen Hillgrove therefore carries strategic weight for governments and investors keen to secure diversified sources of both antimony, used in batteries and flame retardants, and gold, a perennial safe-haven metal.
PYBAR on site, development under way
Larvotto confirmed that contract miner PYBAR had “mobilised to site” and commenced underground works shortly before Christmas, a milestone also reported by specialist outlet International Mining on 25 December. Two days later, the trade publication Australian Mining noted that the “underground roars back to life,” signalling the official restart of development activities at Hillgrove’s historical workings, which date back to the 19th century. Australian Mining
The contract covers a suite of tasks: advancing new declines, establishing lateral access drives, installing ground-support systems, and refurbishing haulage ways so ore can be moved safely to surface. PYBAR is providing specialised equipment, statutory supervision and what it calls a “Safety and Health Management System” to govern day-to-day activities.
According to Larvotto, initial cutting is focused on the Metz zone, a historically productive lens that still hosts significant remnant resources. Once sufficient development has opened Metz, crews will transition to the adjacent Garibaldi zone in a phased approach designed to smooth cash flow and optimise workforce deployment. Roughly 20 kilometres of underground workings are planned over the next four years, laying the physical backbone for what management hopes will become a multi-decade district play.
Location and logistics
Hillgrove lies about 23 kilometres east of Armidale, roughly halfway between Sydney and Brisbane. The site benefits from the New England Highway, rail spurs and Armidale Regional Airport, giving contractors and suppliers year-round access even during the region’s seasonal high-rainfall events. Larvotto says that proximity to infrastructure lowers its haulage and consumables bill relative to more isolated Australian mines, an advantage that should grow once steady-state mining begins.
Inside the gate, an existing processing plant stands ready for refurbishment. Past owners invested heavily in the plant during the previous mining cycle, and Larvotto believes only modest capital will be needed to treat Hillgrove ore once the underground delivers sufficient tonnes. Stockpiles of development ore and partially prepared stopes remain from the mine’s last operational phase, offering a head start on mill commissioning when the time comes.
Workforce and safety systems
More than 70 Larvotto employees are currently embedded on site, joined by about 80 PYBAR and other contractor personnel. The combined workforce includes fitters, jumbo operators, geologists, surveyors and safety specialists. PYBAR has imported its own digital safety-tracking platform, which integrates pre-shift checks, real-time gas monitoring and emergency-response protocols specific to narrow-vein underground environments.
Larvotto Managing Director Ron Heeks said the project’s recent momentum reflects “one of the final prerequisites” for bringing Hillgrove back into commercial production. “PYBAR has integrated seamlessly with our existing site team,” he noted, adding that 2025 had already delivered “numerous financial, technical and project-related milestones” for the company as it pushes toward a 2026 production restart.
Development schedule and next milestones
The present campaign calls for roughly four years of sequential decline and lateral drive development, establishing access for long-hole open stoping methods. Early development ore is expected to be stockpiled on surface, giving the processing plant feed for commissioning once mechanical upgrades are complete. Larvotto’s current schedule assumes first gold-antimony concentrate shipments in 2026, subject to market conditions and regulatory approvals.
Priority tasks over the coming quarters include:
• Completion of the initial 1.5-kilometre Metz decline.
• Installation of permanent ventilation circuits and secondary egress ladders.
• Refurbishment of the existing mill, including replacement of crusher liners and re-instatement of flotation cells tailored for antimony recovery.
• Ongoing resource drilling to convert additional inferred tonnes into the measured and indicated categories, thereby supporting an updated feasibility study.
How Hillgrove fits Australia’s critical-minerals push
Antimony is a flame-retardant component in plastics, an alloying agent for lead-acid batteries and a nascent ingredient in certain molten-salt and solid-state battery chemistries. China supplies an estimated 70 percent of global primary antimony, leaving downstream manufacturers exposed to geopolitical disruptions. Canberra’s 2022 Critical Minerals Strategy identified antimony as one of 26 substances of strategic economic significance, and both the United States and European Union list it as critical or strategic.
By reviving Hillgrove, Larvotto could become one of the few non-Chinese primary producers in the next few years. The project’s dual commodity profile adds a gold revenue stream that can hedge antimony price volatility—an advantage at a time when gold continues to trade near record highs in Australian-dollar terms.
Regional implications
For the Armidale region, Hillgrove’s restart promises hundreds of direct and indirect jobs during peak construction and full production. Local suppliers stand to benefit from contracts for fuel, explosives, ground-support consumables and civil works. State authorities gain additional mining royalties and an incentive to upgrade surrounding roads and services.
Analysts following the critical-minerals sector note that Hillgrove will still face competition from emerging antimony projects in Tasmania and North America, and will have to manage tailings responsibly in a high-rainfall area. However, the existing footprint and past operating history reduce permitting risk relative to greenfield developments.
Looking ahead
With PYBAR now cutting headings underground, Larvotto’s immediate focus shifts to hitting monthly development-metre targets, finalising offtake discussions for antimony-gold concentrate and securing any bridge financing required to take the project through to cash flow. A revised technical study incorporating 2025-level cost inflation is expected later this year, after which the board will make a formal construction decision on the processing plant refurbishment.
Should the schedule hold, Hillgrove could pour its first gold-antimony bars in 2026—restoring a historic mine to Australia’s critical-minerals map and helping diversify global supply chains away from single-jurisdiction dominance.
Sources
- https://im-mining.com/2025/12/25/pybar-gets-to-work-at-larvottos-hillgrove-antimony-gold-project/
- https://www.australianmining.com.au/hillgrove-underground-roars-back-to-life/
