Larvotto launches $54M Hammer bid for bolt-on Qld copper

Larvotto Resources has launched an audacious bid to acquire advanced copper-gold explorer Hammer Metals and its massive exploration footprint in the revered Mt Isa copper province.

The move is a classic two-pronged growth play, marrying Larvotto’s looming antimony-gold cash flow from Hillgrove in NSW with Hammer Metals’ sprawling copper and critical minerals portfolio.

The all-scrip $54 million takeover has won unanimous support from Hammer’s board. The standout seal of approval, however, comes from commodities heavyweight Glencore, which has agreed to stump up $15 million for Larvotto shares at a healthy 15 per cent premium.

Glencore’s move builds on an already strong relationship, with the global giant having recently signed a seven-year offtake agreement for gold concentrate from Larvotto’s flagship Hillgrove mine.

Hammer’s Western Australian gold assets in the Yandal greenstone belt will be simultaneously demerged into a separate, unlisted public company, allowing Hammer’s followers to retain the upside from that ground.

Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks said: “The acquisition comes at an important time with Larvotto transitioning into production at Hillgrove. The anticipated cash flow from Hillgrove and Glencore’s $15 million investment provides a strong foundation to accelerate Larvotto’s next stage of growth.”

The acquisition will see Larvotto get its hands on Hammer’s district-scale copper portfolio spanning a vast 3600 square kilometres in the Mt Isa region, an area long recognised as one of Australia’s premier mineral provinces.

The ground comes with a resource inventory of some 530,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent metal across its Kalman, Lakeview, Elaine and Overlander deposits.

The prize in the package is Hammer’s Kalman project, which hosts an impressive 39.2 million tonnes, grading a solid 1.27 per cent copper equivalent for 208,400 tonnes of contained copper.

Adding further grunt to the portfolio, the deal delivers Larvotto a powerful partnership with major miner South32 at Hammer’s separate Isa Valley project, which sits west of its main Mt Isa project. South32 is already in the throes of a Stage 3 earn-in arrangement, which will require it to spend $3 million on exploration to secure a 70 per cent interest in the project.

Larvotto’s deal and cash-grab will create a powerful new entity with a pro forma market capitalisation of around $871 million.

The company says its new-look portfolio will offer a rare combination of near-term critical minerals cash flow from a strategically vital asset and large-scale exploratio