Brightstar is another step closer to joining the ranks of gold producers with mining personnel and equipment supplied by its partner BML Ventures mobilising in late July to its Menzies project in WA.

This will allow for mining of 30,000t of ore at a head grade of more than 6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from within the Selkirk open pit mine to start in August.

It follows on Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) and BML agreeing on the project scope after a recent site visit and reaching a toll milling agreement with St Barbara (ASX:SBM).

Ore haulage and processing at St Barbara’s Gwalia operations is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2024 with BML responsible for all capital, mining and haulage costs whilst profits are split evenly on a 50/50 basis on reconciliation of gold sales and project costs.

“We are excited for Brightstar to become Australia’s next gold producer via our mining JV with BML,” managing director Alex Rovira said.

“The Selkirk open pit is the first production opportunity for Brightstar with a significant portfolio of advanced-stage gold resources in the development pipeline in Menzies and Laverton.

“This mining JV with BML signifies the first production for Brightstar that will generate meaningful free cash for the company to organically fund additional exploration and development efforts underway across the broader portfolio, which contains 965,000oz gold JORC Mineral Resources.”

He added that funding larger scale development from the company’s Menzies gold project will create a “genuine WA gold developer with meaningful scale through Brightstar’s existing processing infrastructure and robust resource base in WA’s goldfields region”.

 

Menzies gold project

The Menzies project includes a high-grade gold field which has historically produced 787,200oz at 18.9g/t gold from intermittent production between 1895-1995.

Drilling is currently underway to streamline prospects within the project into a single, large portfolio.

This includes 5,000m of reverse circulation drilling across several highly prospective targets such as Lady Irene and Aspacia lodes to prove up a combined underground operation that encompasses the nearby Selkirk-First Hit deposit.

Several brownfield exploration targets, including Westralia, South Dump and Golden Dicks – within the Lady Shenton-Lady Harriet ‘link zone’ – will also be targeted with a small, focused RC drill campaign after the current resource definition program.

 

 

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.

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