AXT Supplies Larvotto with Australia's First onsite ECORE LIBS Core Scanning Technology

WARRIEWOOD, Australia - Dec. 16, 2025 - PRLog -- Following an extensive evaluation program with AXT's Automated Mineralogy Incubator (AMI), Larvotto Resources have become the first Australian mining company to install an Elemission ECORE. The ECORE rapid core scanner was installed at their Hillgrove Antimony-Gold Project. The ECORE, acquired from ELEMISSION's Australian distributor AXT, gives them near real-time analysis of drill cores from their drilling programs. This streamlines geological logging and better targets exploration programs as well as optimising geometallurgical workflows.

The ECORE uses laser ablation and atomic emission spectroscopy to rapidly scan up 1,000 metres/day of drill core and other geological materials. It can generate full elemental breakdowns for every spot scanned, at spatial resolutions down to 50µm. This allows users to identify mineralised zones, alteration halos and key textural relationships crucial for understanding ore continuity and zonation.

Larvotto worked extensively with the AMI, their team of mineralogists and other multiscale mineralogy techniques. They were able to create detailed mineral libraries for the Hillgrove Mining project which enabled more accurate discrimination of mineralised zones. This information was critical to gaining a better understanding of the best exploration strategies, helping them map extensions of the deposit and assisting in the development of a robust and optimised geometallurgical flowsheet.

In addition to the AMI's mineralogical expertise, Larvotto also utilised numerous cutting-edge techniques to complete detailed feasibility studies.  Collectively, insights from all these channels targeted flowsheet improvements and enhanced overall recovery strategies.

1. ECORE core scanning – allowing quantification of mineralogical phases.
2. TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyser (TIMA) – enabled accurate identification and quantification of stibnite grain size as well as gold and antimony associations which feeds back into flowsheet development
3. Comprehensive gold deportment analysis – to accurately predict gold and antimony distributions

TIMA analysis also identified the need for the introduction of rougher floatation and regrinding steps to more efficiently liberate target mineral species. Analysis of rougher tails from early-stage tests underscored the necessity for reagent scheme optimisation.

The Elemission ECORE has been installed in a new facility in Armidale NSW and will  support exploration and metallurgical development activities at the Hillgrove Mine site. Specifically, in exploration it will provide multi-element and mineral map data, streamline geological logging and targeting, optimise sample selection, and build a digital geological library. In metallurgy, it will be used for pre-feasibility and metallurgical testing, optimising grinding and liberation, and troubleshooting process control.

Studies performed by the AMI demonstrated how detailed, early-stage mineralogical characterisation can drive smarter processing decisions and decrease the risk of flowsheet development. Furthermore, the work performed highlights the value of modern mineralogical tools in unlocking the full potential of complex polymetallic ores and their critical role in guiding project development.

For more details, please email ami@axt.com.au