Hillgrove Resources Limited is pleased to advise that two new Liebherr 9350 300 tonne excavators have been purchased for use at the Kanmantoo Copper Mine by the Company’s equipment supply contractor Andy’s Earthmovers (Asia Pacific) Pty Limited. The first of the new excavators is now in the Kavanagh pit at Kanmantoo with operator training underway.

The second excavator is on site and under construction. Hillgrove’s Managing Director and CEO, Greg Hall said: “The arrival and commissioning of these excavators will provide both improved productivity and lower costs by allowing a further ramp up in the volume of tonnes moved from the mining pits in line with the Company’s long term mine plans. This will see production benefits leading to improved cashflow and profit from the Kanmantoo Copper Mine.” “The mine and processing plant completed a ramp up to full production by October 2013, with consistent performance in copper production through the current quarter (commenced 1 November). Hillgrove expects another record for copper production for the quarter among other continued improvements at site.”

Production guidance for this quarter ending 31 January 2014 is 5,400 to 5,600t copper contained within concentrates*. Costs are continuing to reduce with C1 costs forecast to be in the low USD2.00’s per lb Cu for the quarter, in line with previous guidance provided. “We are very pleased to see that Hillgrove’s workforce has continued to operate effectively and safely since the new mining plan was implemented. This has resulted in improved quality and ore grade mined, increased mill throughput and increased copper production. We also recognise the very significant input into our operations through our major supporting contractors Andy’s Earthmovers (Asia Pacific) Pty Ltd, Roc-Drill Pty Ltd and Maxam Australia Pty Ltd,” Mr Hall said. With this increased production profile, Hillgrove took advantage of the currently high USD copper
price and low Australian Dollar by conducting additional hedging for the first half of FY2015*. As such, Hillgrove Resources entered into contracts to deliver 2,280mt of copper at a weighted average price of A$8,291/mt (net of margin) further strengthening the Company’s position.