Brightstar turns up more high-grade gold in WA ahead of DFS
Brightstar Resources has unleashed a torrent of high-grade gold results from a 7300-metre reverse circulation drilling blitz at its Indomitable East and Cork Tree Well deposits in Western Australia.
Brightstar's 3390m reverse circulation drill program at the Indomitable Camp's 288,000-ounce Sandstone hub resource has delivered a string of solid infill intercepts, including a shallow 14m hit running 2.46 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 34m, a substantial 25m grading 1.67g/t gold from 90m and a higher-grade 3m at 6.50g/t gold from 118m.
Over at its Cork Tree Well deposit at its Laverton hub, the company has completed a further 3900m of reverse circulation drilling to support an existing 303,000-ounce resource.
Impressive high-grade results from the current Cork Tree Well program include 4m at a juicy 7.84g/t gold from 101m, plus 3m grading 4.53g/t from 80m, a 6m hit at 4.37g/t gold from 92m and 5m running 2.64g/t gold from 114m.
The results are part of the company's aggressive 130,000m exploration campaign this year to turbocharge near-term production at Laverton and push its Sandstone hub projects towards development.
Mineralisation is open in multiple directions and a trio of additional rigs set to join the fray, positioning the company to redefine the scale of its 3-million-ounce gold resource portfolio in short work.
Management says results such as 12m at 2.14g/t at Indomitable confirm gold mineralisation remains open along strike, while high-grade zones at Cork Tree Well could signal robust mineralisation that could fuel near-term production increases.
Brightstar's latest drilling triumph comes amid a whirlwind of operational and development milestones. The company is actively mining at its Second Fortune and Fish underground mines in Laverton and the next processing campaign under its ore purchase agreement with Genesis Minerals is slated for this month.
The company says up to 500,000 tonnes of ore can be processed through to early next year, which will likely provide a steady cash flow to fuel all Brightstar's exploration activities.
Definitive feasibility studies for Brightstar's Laverton and Menzies gold hubs are due within a couple of months and should underpin a material leap in the company's production profile.
A pre-feasibility study for the company's Sandstone hub is on track for this time next year to target a 2.5–3.5 million tonne per annum processing plant churning out more than 130,000 ounces annually.
The company will up the ante at the hub by mobilising an additional three rigs in the coming weeks to accelerate extensional drilling across all the Sandstone prospects.
Brightstar says its aggressive growth is backed by a robust financial position. The company recently secured an $18M debt facility with Ocean Partners, complementing cash flows from its Genesis mill gold production.
Gold prices are hovering above $5000 per ounce, which is more than 10 times the historical prices during Sandstone's earlier production days. Against this trend, Brightstar is primed to leverage its high-grade discoveries and some 3M ounces of gold resources to become a 200,000-ounce-per-annum gold producer within five years.
It seems that push is already gaining traction in the market as the company's share price went up 35 per cent just this week.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
matt.birney@wanews.com.au
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