Brightstar finds another ‘Link’ to near-term cashflow from +500koz Menzies gold project

Maiden resource of 21,200oz @ 1.07g/t gold for Link Zone prospect, part of the Menzies group of projects
Brightstar assessing whether Link Zone could be near-term cashflow opportunity, similar to mining joint venture currently under way at Selkirk
High-grade Aspacia prospect earmarked for inclusion in the upcoming PFS on Menzies/Laverton

Special Report: Emerging gold developer Brightstar Resources will assess whether its newly-declared maiden resource at Link Zone can be fast-tracked into production.

Brightstar Resources (ASX: BTR) well along the path to becoming a profitable gold miner in the Leonora-Laverton district of WA, cornerstoned by a mothballed processing plant and a +1Moz and growing resource inventory.

Meanwhile, the company is expecting imminent cashflow via mining joint venture currently under way at Selkirk and, potentially, a low cost mining start-up at the Link Zone, which is comprised of three deposits sitting between the Lady Shenton and Lady Harriet deposits at its Menzies Gold Project.

BTR today announced a maiden resource of 21,200oz @ 1.07g/t gold for the Link Zone. It includes a higher-grade core of +6,000oz @ 2g/t gold which the company believes holds the potential for modest-scale mining operations.

The Link Zone is 1km south of existing resources of 287,000oz at Lady Shenton System and 1km north of the 43,000oz hosted at Lady Harriet System. Brightstar previously reported impressive drill hits of 1m @ 13.95g/t and 4m @ 3.21g/t from the near-surface prospect in August.

Brightstar managing director Alex Rovira said the new ounces at the Link Zone provided strong potential for future near-term mining scenarios.

“In addition to completing the necessary approvals, permitting and mine planning, Brightstar are also assessing whether Link Zone can be extracted under a mining joint venture similar to the current Selkirk mining joint venture on a standalone basis in the short term, or alternatively, in conjunction with proposed open pit mining activities at Menzies which is presently being advanced as part of our PFS,” Rovira said.

“The Link Zone prospect is a near-surface opportunity with potential for strong economics, given the shallow depth of mineralisation and favourable orebody geometry.”

Exploring links to the past

The maiden resource for Link Zone increases Brightstar’s total gold inventory at Menzies to 525,000oz.

Brightstar acquired the Menzies project – including the high-grade goldfield which historically produced 787,000oz @ 18.9g/t gold between 1895 and 1995 – in May this year after merging with Kingwest Resources.

Eight RC holes totalling 531m were specifically drilled into the Link Zone by Brightstar since the acquisition was completed.

While there are limited records of historical mining at the Link Zone, it is understood about 850oz was mined at head grades exceeding 1oz/t from the Golden Dicks and Westralian Menzies deposits in 1907.

Brightstar’s maiden resource was reported to be still open at depth and along strike for all three Link Zone deposits, including Merriyulah.

Aspacia on the fast track to PFS inclusion

RC drilling will soon commence at Menzies with a focus on infill and extensional drilling at the Link Zone to assess the potential for fast-tracked development.

Drilling is also set to begin at the high-grade Aspacia prospect which Brightstar has earmarked as holding significant potential for inclusion in the PFS mine plan.

Previous drilling highlighted gold grades of up to 40g/t while records indicate historical mined head grade of more than 30g/t.

“Aspacia represents a potential high-grade underground mining operation at Menzies that sits outside the impressive economics highlighted in the recent scoping study.”

The upcoming PFS will build on the results of a scoping study released in early September which estimated roughly 40,000ozpa gold production over an initial eight years across Brightstar’s Menzies and Laverton projects, generating post-tax NPV of $103 million, IRR of 79% and payback in 1.5 years.

Brightstar’s global resources currently total 1.036Moz gold, including 511,000oz across its Laverton assets. The company also owns a mothballed processing plant, 60-person accommodation camp and non-processing infrastructure, all located 30km south-east of the Laverton township.

This article was developed in collaboration with Brightstar Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.