• The A$20 million Labor election commitment toward an antimony processing Facility is conditional on re-election at the Victorian State election on 28 November 2026.
  • SX2 and Gekko Systems are preferred recipients of Advancing Antimony grants totalling more than A$750,000, the split of which is not disclosed.
  • SX2 applied for its first Mining licence, MIN009040, in September 2026, and a planned 200-kilometre drill program is due to finish in the first quarter of 2027.

Southern Cross Gold Consolidated Ltd. (ASX:SX2) said on 15 October 2026 that it welcomes two Victorian announcements made on 14 October 2026. One is a Labor election commitment of A$20 million toward Australia's first antimony processing facility in northern Victoria. The other is the award of Advancing Antimony grants, of more than A$750,000 in total, shared between SX2 and Gekko Systems of Ballarat for antimony processing and Supply chain studies. The company said both are preferred recipients.

What is committed, and what is not

The A$20 million is an election commitment, not funding received. SX2 said it is conditional on Labor's re-election at the Victorian State election on 28 November 2026 and on the terms of any future funding arrangements. It is not clear from the release how much of the facility's cost the sum would cover, or whether SX2 would be a direct beneficiary.

According to Labor's announcement, as relayed by SX2, the facility would have capacity of up to 5,000 tonnes of antimony metal a year, be open to Australian producers, and create about 200 construction jobs and 60 ongoing skilled jobs. Those figures are Labor's, not the company's. The grant is described as shared between SX2 and Gekko; the split is not disclosed, and "preferred recipient" indicates that the grant is not yet finalised.

The Sunday Creek project

SX2's Sunday Creek project lies 60 kilometres north of Melbourne. The company holds 16,900 hectares of granted exploration tenements, and owns 2,296 hectares of freehold land. It said antimony makes up about 15 to 17 per cent of the in situ recoverable value. The company reported 106 composite intersections above 100 grams per tonne gold from 146.4 kilometres of drilling, including historic drilling, and a "Golden Ladder" structure interpreted over 12 kilometres of strike and drill-tested from surface to 1,200 metres depth. Preliminary metallurgical work indicated gold recovery of 93 to 98 per cent through gravity and flotation. A planned 200-kilometre drill programme is due to finish in the first quarter of 2027.

SX2 applied for its first mining licence, MIN009040, in September 2026. It also holds the 100 per cent-owned Redcastle Gold-Antimony Project.

Gold equivalent basis

The release uses a gold equivalent (AuEq) calculation of gold grade plus 2.39 times antimony percentage, based on gold at US$2,500 an ounce, antimony at US$19,000 a tonne and 2024 recoveries of 91 per cent for gold and 92 per cent for antimony. The company said the Costerfield corridor, about 54 kilometres north-west of Sunday Creek, contains two million ounces of gold equivalent. That is a neighbouring operation, not SX2's own resource.

Market context from the release

SX2 cited a 2023 European Union study that put China's share of mined antimony supply at 56 per cent, and said Australia ranks seventh for antimony production, all from Costerfield. These are the company's references and not independently checked here.

Next milestones

The confirmed date is the Victorian State election on 28 November 2026, on which the A$20 million depends. The grant award is still at preferred-recipient stage, and the mining licence application is pending. The drilling figures quoted include historic drilling, and the release does not present them as a Mineral Resource estimate. The Competent Person for the release is Kenneth Bush, Head of Exploration.