Brightstar Resources Limited (ASX: BTR) (Brightstar) is pleased to advise that a large reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling (DD) program will commence immediately across the broader 1.45Moz Brightstar & Linden Gold (subject of an off-market takeover offer)4 portfolio, targeting gold mineralisation within known pit shells and underground designs outlined within Brightstar’s Scoping Studies.
HIGHLIGHTS
+30,000m Reverse Circulation and Diamond Drilling programs to commence imminently across the Brightstar portfolio, targeting resource upgrades & extensions in conjunction with feasibility workstreams at Menzies and Laverton, as well as Linden Gold’s Second Fortune and Jasper Hills Gold ProjectsRC drilling targeting gold mineralisation within conservative ($2,750/oz1 and $2,800/oz2) economic pit shells and underground designs previously announced in Brightstar Scoping Studies1,2, potentially generating higher confidence mineral resources (M&I) and de- risking early stages of future mining operations at Lady Shenton & Lord Byron open pitsSurface & underground diamond drilling at Second Fortune to build confidence in FY2025 mine plans, with complementary underground exploration program leveraging synergies to explore Second Fortune at depth below the current Mineral Resource EstimateRC drilling across Menzies including Link Zone and the greenfields St Francis prospect, located 1.5km along strike from the Selkirk Mine, which was the recent subject of a successful mining JV, generating $6.5M in net profit3 to BrightstarBrightstar’s technical team further bolstered by key appointments to geological leadership roles
Concurrently with this infill program at Menzies, Brightstar will also take advantage of operational synergies and drill the St Francis prospect, located 1.5km north-west along strike of the Selkirk deposit which was recently the focus of a successful mining joint venture which generated $6.5M profit to Brightstar.
Additional RC & DD drilling has been planned at Cork Tree Well and Linden Gold’s Second Fortune and Jasper Hills (Fish and Lord Byron deposits) projects to target both high-grade underground gold resources and baseload feed open pit targets.
Brightstar’s Managing Director, Alex Rovira, commented“This drilling program is the start of an aggressive exploration campaign by Brightstar, including deposits within the recently announced Linden Gold merger. Beyond the initial RC campaign at Menzies, the drill rigs will then head to Brightstar’s Laverton Hub with the view to complete diamond and reverse circulation drilling programs across the enlarged Brightstar portfolio. We expect these holes to deliver valuable information for geological, mine planning, geotechnical and metallurgical purposes ahead of the combined pre-feasibility study to be released by the end of the year. We’re also targeting greenfields exploration growth at the St Francis and Delta 2 prospects within the Menzies and Laverton Gold Projects respectively, with both highly compelling targets identified for drill testing.
Concurrently with these programs, we are also thrilled to announce the commencement of Jonathan Gough as General Manager – Geology along with the recent appointment of Edward Keys as Exploration Manager. Jonathan and Ed both come to Brightstar with proven successes in their recent geology management roles at Musgrave Minerals and Prodigy Gold, respectively. In addition, Linden Gold has recently appointed Jamie Brown as Chief Geologist initially based at Second Fortune, with the site team bolstered by Jamie’s strong background in operational underground mine geology.
We are fortunate to attract such high-quality mining professionals with a combined +50 years of gold exploration and mining experience joining our team, and we look forward to their contributions to Brightstar’s exciting growth trajectory as we explore and build on our existing 1.45Moz resource base in the Eastern Goldfields of WA”.
TECHNICAL DISCUSSION
Brightstar is commencing a surface RC and DD campaign across all major deposits within the larger Brightstar & Linden Gold portfolio, along with minor exploration programs targeting near-surface gold mineralisation under shallow cover at the St Francis prospect in Menzies, the Delta 2 prospect located near Cork Tree Well, along with confirmatory drilling at the Beta deposit adjacent to the Brightstar plant.
These programs will commence imminently, with approximately five months of RC drilling including three months of concurrent diamond drilling completed from surface, with a complementary underground program scheduled for June to explore Second Fortune at depth. Table 1 below outlines the broad overview of the program, with one surface RC rig, one surface DD rig and one underground DD rig being utilised in the coming months.
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