Southern Cross Gold wins $521K Victorian grant, backs $14M antimony plant pledge
What's the deal? Southern Cross GoldDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Consolidated has been named a preferred recipient under the Victorian Government's Advancing Antimony Grants program, sharing more than US$485.3K (≈$521,000) with Ballarat-based partner Gekko SystemsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The funding supports research on antimony processing methods and supply chain development.
What's the money for? The grant finances pilot-scale metallisation testing on concentrate from the company's Sunday Creek project, including validation of antimony and gold recovery rates and product quality. It also covers flowsheet development and engineering for a proposed antimony metallisation facility.
The bigger pledge: Separately, the Victorian Labor PartyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has promised US$12.9M (≈$14 million) to build what it describes as Australia's first antimony processing plant in northern Victoria. The commitment is conditional on re-election at the state election on November 28, 2026, and subject to future funding terms.
The planned facility would produce up to 5,000 tonnes of antimony metal a year. Labor's announcement projects about 200 construction jobs and 60 ongoing skilled positions.
Why it matters? Antimony concentrate produced in Victoria is currently exported overseas for processing. A local plant would let Australian producers refine the metal domestically.
Why now? Antimony accounts for roughly 15% to 17% of the in situ recoverable value of Sunday Creek, based on an AuEq ratio of 2.39. President and chief executive officer Michael Hudson called the election commitment a tangible advancement toward processing antimony metal locally.
The project: Sunday Creek sits 60km north of Melbourne across 16,900 hectares of granted exploration tenements, of which the company holds freehold title to 2,296 hectares covering the main drilled area. It filed its initial mining licence application in September 2026.
The signal: The grant is modest by funding standards, but it points to growing government interest in onshore critical-minerals processing. With antimony concentrate still shipped abroad, the combined grant and election pledge signal a push to keep more of the supply chain — and its value — in Australia.
Read more: kalkinemedia.com
Image credit: James St. John
