Latest news with #Brightstar
West Australian
15-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Brightstar goes again at Second Fortune
Brightstar Resources has begun a second round of ore processing from its Second Fortune underground mine at its Laverton Hub, delivering 55,000t of ore at more than 2g/t gold to Genesis' Laverton mill in WA. The ore parcel includes some feedstock from existing lower-grade stockpiles from the company's Laverton Hub and is processed under an ore purchase agreement (OPA) with ASX-listed Genesis Minerals. Under the OPA, Brightstar will deliver, sell, and process up to 500,000 tonnes of ore through the Laverton Mill from its Laverton Hub throughout this year and into next year's first quarter. Earlier this month, the company executed a A$17.8M revolving stockpile finance facility with specialist mining lender Ocean Partners Australia to bolster its working capital and provide flexibility for production growth at its Laverton gold mining hub. The facility supports Brightstar's present strategy of simultaneously building its current gold production through the OPA, delivering meaningful production growth through development of its Menzies and Laverton gold projects and its aim to rapidly advance its Sandstone gold project. This synchronised regional development profile underpins the company's ambitious target of becoming a consistent 200,000 ounce per year gold producer within the next five years. Additionally, the financial reinforcement provides sufficient ongoing working capital for new developments, one of which is the imminent crank-up of the Fish underground mine production, pencilled-in for the June quarter. Notably, the financing will allow Brightstar to remain unhedged and able to retain full exposure to any gold price upside. With the imminent end of the latest production run, Brightstar expects to see a metallurgical gold reconciliation within the next few weeks. This considers the estimated or modelled grade and dry tonnage of the feedstock, the calculated gold left in the circuit and the refined gold out-turn from the ore parcel. These parameters include feed head-grade and gold recovery and can help with identifying areas of unexpected non-performance, including ore modelling problems, sudden ore-dilution during mining, bad carbon, poor electro-winning and reagent control, amongst others. Brightstar says development is ongoing at the Fish underground which is expected to contribute to future processing campaigns from June. The Fish mine portal was only fired in early April and since then, the decline and its related capital development, such as ventilation, have advanced by 220m, while an underground drill platform is to be set up in the coming weeks to support extensional and infill drilling from underground to test at depth within and below the Fish orebody. The company says its construction of the initial 48-room accommodation camp and ancillary infrastructure, including messing facilities, offices and utilities, is due for completion this month. This will accompany other tasks, including installation of a power station, a fuel bay, a temporary office, explosives magazine and site earth works. Notably, management thinks some of the key capital works relating to site establishment at Fish will ultimately assist development of the company's Lord Byron open pit operation, 7km southwest of Fish. Lord Byron is currently subject to Brightstar's Laverton-Menzies definitive feasibility study which is scheduled to be completed mid-year. The company's definitive feasibility study on its greater Laverton-Menzies development strategy is well advanced, with delivery on track for mid-year. That study is expected to better define Brightstar's path to becoming a significant, multi-mine ASX-listed gold producer. Brightstar has been one of the most active gold juniors on the ASX in recent times with multiple project and corporate acquisitions and now a solid toll treating strategy – all of which may culminate in its broader ambition to become a 200,000 ounce a year listed producer. And if its current pace is anything to go by, that may well occur sooner rather than later. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
West Australian
08-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
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:
West Australian
06-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Brightstar boosts balance sheet with US$11.5M capital facility
Brightstar Resources has boosted its balance sheet by executing a US$11.5 (A$17.8) million revolving stockpile finance facility with specialist mining lender Ocean Partners Australia. The facility will bolster Brightstar's working capital and provide flexibility for production growth at the company's Laverton gold hub. Management says it will aid production growth as the facility is aligned with an ore purchase agreement (OPA) with Genesis Minerals. It supports the company's focus on boosting gold production through the OPA, the near-term development of its Menzies and Laverton gold projects and gearing its Sandstone gold project towards development. Brightstar will be able to draw down up to US$11.5M to fund production expansion or for general working capital in one or multiple tranches. Each drawdown will be repaid within six months via deductions from the provisional payments due under the OPA with Genesis. Ocean Partners will hold security over Brightstar's run-of-mine (ROM) ore stockpiles until sold to Genesis under the OPA. The facility does not contain mandatory hedging clauses, enabling Brightstar to benefit from full exposure to the prevailing gold price. Ocean Partners offers a complete range of trading services for miners, refiners, smelters and metal consumers around the globe. It has recently executed funding arrangements for several ASX-listed companies, including American West Metals and Polymetals Resources. Management last year originated an ore purchase agreement with Genesis, allowing for up to 500,000t of ore to be processed this year and in the first three months of 2026. Linking the revolving stockpile facility with the OPA enables Brightstar to better manage its cash flow highs and lows due to the OPA's variable processing schedules. The higher degree of working capital available to the company will also allow it to pursue growth options at the Second Fortune underground mine, where it plans to target 10,000 tonnes to 12,000t per month. The company is also pushing on with the development of its Fish underground decline as it moves towards first ore this quarter. Brightstar expects to produce 15,000t of ore per month at Fish from July. An additional 160,000t of material grading 0.9 grams per tonne gold from stockpiles at its Lord Byron deposit are available for immediate processing. Further plans involve haulage, blending and processing of the Lord Byron stockpiles under the OPA, completing the Laverton-Menzies definitive feasibility study before end of June and continued exploration across the company's projects, including 100,000 metres of drilling. The company plans to combine the free cash flow generated under the OPA with its new capital facility to progress exploration and development across its portfolio of projects to grow its current and near-term production. Its goal is to become a 200,000-ounce WA gold producer within the next five years. Brightstar appears to be lining all its ducks in a row as it prepares to take a giant leap up the ladder among its fellow WA gold producers. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
West Australian
30-04-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Drilling blitz to unlock Brightstar 1.5M-ounce WA Sandstone gold hub
A colossal 80,000-metre drilling blitz at Brightstar Resources' Sandstone gold project has the company steaming towards the development of a new 1.5-million-ounce Western Australian gold hub at the long-dormant project. Hot on the heels of its 2024 acquisitions of Alto Metals and the Montague East gold project from Gateway Mining, Brightstar is firming up its drilling and feasibility studies to unlock Sandstone's untapped potential. Brightstar's fully funded exploration juggernaut is set to unlock deeper and potentially highly profitable ounces across the consolidated project, as it eyes a 2.5–3.5 million tonne per annum processing plant option. The company aims to unlock a region unmined for more than 15 years. The company says it has already drilled 23,500m of a broader 134,000m program planned for this year. It has assays pending from high-grade prospects outside of the town of Sandstone, including Lord Nelson, Bull Oak, Havilah and the Indomitable Camp. Early results are lighting up high-grade underground resources, with intercepts returning hits of 3m at 26.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 4m at 59.0g/t. The intercepts hint at never-tested high-grade resources at depth across the project, which could upgrade its economic viability considerably. Brightstar says its prefeasibility study, slated for early next year, is focussed primarily on the existing resources across Sandstone. The resources were chased within the top 150m from surface during times of weaker gold prices that overlooked the region's depth potential. With gold prices soaring at about $5150 per ounce – more than 10 times the $500 per ounce price seen for most of Sandstone's operational era -Brightstar believes it is poised to capitalise on a major production opportunity in one of WA's underdeveloped gold-bearing greenstone belts. Brightstar's exploration team is leaving no stone unturned, with two-thirds of its portfolio-wide 134,000m drilling budget earmarked to expand Sandstone's 33Mt resource, which grades a respectable 1.5g/t gold for 1.5M ounces. Drilling will also focus on greenfield discovery targets across the project, including Hacks West, Bulchina South, Sandstone North and recently uncovered Duplex prospects, which the company says are primed for follow-up testing. Sandstone's historical exploration was a mere teaser, with past owners such as Herald and Troy pulling more than 600,000 ounces from shallow oxide material at a puny 600ktpa plant. Brightstar's bold vision dwarfs that scale, leveraging sealed highways and low-cost ore haulage from Montague, 70 kilometres away, at less than 0.1g/t gold-equivalent to feed a modern 3Mtpa mill near Sandstone town to spit out some 130,000 ounces annually. At the end of the March quarter, the company was sitting pretty with $7M cash in the kitty, not including proceeds from the 100 kilograms of gold it produced through an ore purchase agreement with Genesis Minerals in March. It is also finalising a US$11.5M (A$18M) debt facility with United States-based Ocean Partners, which will be used to fast-track the company's aggressive growth agenda. With Sandstone's 1.5M-ounce resource just scratching near surface, Brightstar believes its aggressive drilling campaign is poised to unlock deeper, high-grade lodes at the long-overlooked Sandstone-Gum Creek greenstone belts. This region is now in the spotlight, thanks to Brightstar, as a prime target for potential major-scale production. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
West Australian
29-04-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Brightstar racks up $24.7M in revenue from Laverton gold production
Brightstar Resources has come out swinging from its March quarter, racking up 5207 ounces in gold sales at an average of $4744 per ounce, firing up a second underground mine and launching a full-tilt drilling blitz across its Western Australian Goldfields portfolio. In a jam-packed three months, the company racked up a healthy $24.7 million in revenue, with a strong $4.72M of operating cashflow in the bank before $2.66M in corporate overheads. The company shifted 28,000 tonnes grading 3.31 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from the company's Second Fortune underground mine for 3000 ounces, as well as 30,900t of ore from low-grade stockpiles at its Lord Bryon open pit at 0.9g/t for 895 ounces, spitting out the yellow metal at an impressive 94 per cent recovery rate. The company will kick off its next processing run at Genesis Minerals' Laverton mill in May. Brightstar's Second Fortune underground cash cow has roared into full production, with 4200t at 3.6g/t gold stockpiled and ready to roll. Over at Lord Byron, a further 164,000t of low-grade stockpiles are stacked up, pushing the company's haulage-ready tally to a juicy 5200 ounces. The company hit another major milestone by firing the starter's gun on portal development at its second underground operation, Fish mine. The first ore from Fish has been locked in for the June quarter. The new mine is likely to boost Brightstar's current 20,000 ounces-a-year production run rate, management says. On the development front, the company says it is making good headway on its Laverton and Menzies definitive feasibility study, which is forecast to deliver a further bump in gold production from 2026. The study includes plans to refurbish and expand Brightstar's own Laverton mill - a move that could transform the company into a stand-alone producer. Brightstar has also completed a massive 23,500m of drilling across its Laverton, Sandstone and Menzies hubs. Standout hits included a string of cracking assays at Second Fortune and Lord Byron, including 1.16m at 30.36g/t gold and 20.39m at 3.03g/t gold. Brightstar holds a 1.5M-ounce resource at Sandstone, where a drilling program at its Lord Nelson prospect returned a handy 40m at 1.89g/t. The company is doubling down on the district by earmarking it for a whopping 66 per cent of its beefed-up 134,000m drilling blitz this year. Management says the effort to unlock a bigger resource could underpin the project's potential as a future tier-one open pit development. At the end of the quarter, the company was sitting pretty with $7M cash in the kitty. It is also finalising a US$11.5 million debt facility with United States-based Ocean Partners, which will be used to fast-track the aggressive growth agenda. With no hedging, growing cashflows, a swelling gold price and a trio of near-term developments in play, Brightstar appears well and truly locked on target to become an emerging mid-tier gold producer. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
