Brightstar hits impressive high grade gold from maiden Sandstone gold drilling

BTR reports grades of up to 66.7g/t gold from maiden Montague East deposit drilling
Results up to 4m at 59g/t reported from Whistler deposit
Company undertaking aggressive 55,000m of resource expansion drilling at Sandstone

Special Report: Brightstar Resources has reported impressive results from a maiden 6000m RC drilling program at Montague-Boulder and Whistler deposits, 70km from the company’s Sandstone gold project in WA’s Murchison region.

The company picked up Montague East from Gateway Mining (ASX:GML) in August last year as part of its move to consolidate the Sandstone district – which also included the acquisition of million-ounce explorer Alto Metals. The historic gold rush town looms as its third, and potentially most significant, production hub.

Collectively, the acquisitions about doubled Brightstar Resources’ (ASX:BTR) gold inventory, close to its own and third-party milling infrastructure, to ~3Moz of gold.

The deposits now form part of the greater Sandstone project, which hosts a current resource of 1.5Moz at 1.5g/t gold. The Montague-Boulder and Whistler deposits together host a combined gold resource of 4.7Mt at 1.8g/t gold, for 283,000oz gold.

The latest results have confirmed material high-grade extensions to known mineralisation. Notable results included:

4m at 59.0g/t gold from 24m (Whistler)
5m at 7.64g/t gold from 182m (Whistler)
9m at 7.16g/t gold from 123m (Whistler)
2m at 33.7g/t gold from 100m, including 1m at 66.1g/t gold from 101m (Montague-Boulder)
1m at 66.7g/t gold from 130m (Montague-Boulder)
7m at 5.39g/t gold from 127m including 1m at 16.4g/t from 131m (Montague-Boulder)
3m at 8.27g/t gold from 93m including 1m at 11.6g/t from 94m (Montague-Boulder)
4m at 4.95g/t gold from 0m (Montague-Boulder); and
2m at 7.98g/t gold from 117m including 1m at 14.2g/t from 117m (Montague-Boulder).

Resource expansion in focus

These drilling programs are part of a broader, aggressive 55,000m RC drilling program to rapidly expand the existing 1.5Moz resource at Sandstone.

“The final results from the Whistler deposit are extremely encouraging, highlighting the broad, high-grade nature of the mineralisation,” BTR managing director Alex Rovira said.

“Similarly, the results from Montague-Boulder are particularly interesting as in the northern extents shallow dipping, high-grade mineralised shoots are observed to extend beyond previously defined lodes.

“We look forward to sharing further results as they become available, with assays still pending from our 2024 drill season at Sandstone and Laverton.”

Drilling has now recommenced after the Christmas break, with the RC rig at the Lord Nelson deposit in Sandstone continuing from where the 2024 campaign paused.

“This program includes Brightstar’s first drill holes at Sandstone, initiated just days after the completion of the acquisition of Alto Metals, showcasing Brightstar’s steadfast commitment to organic growth through exploration,” Rovira said.

Drilling at Lord Nelson is targeting along strike and down dip extensions, as well as infilling key areas of the deposit.

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.