After a merger deal with Kingwest Resources last month, Brightstar Resources has wasted no time in getting drill rigs to its Menzies gold project in Western Australia and hopes to soon deliver an updated mineral resource estimate.
The successful merger has fast-tracked the company’s move towards becoming the State’s next gold producer as it works to shore up its understanding of the deposit’s proven high-grade gold intercepts.
Brightstar, which holds 53 per cent of the merged operation, has now kicked off a 5000m reverse-circulation (RC) drilling campaign in the same area that high-grade gold hits have previously been returned.
The company’s Lady Irene prospect, where RC crews are prioritising drilling, saw an intercept turn over a 40m thick section at 4.27 grams per tonne gold. Sample results at a second target, Aspacia, showed grades of up to 150.4g/t.
Brightstar set up shop at Menzies immediately after last month’s merger to explore inside an existing proven open-cut mine. The project sits north of Kalgoorlie along the western edge of the Menzies greenstone belt – a geological formation underpinning parts of the Menzies goldfield, which the company highlights as one of WA’s biggest historic fields.
Just down the road from the Menzies project is Ora Banda Mining’s 1.2 million tonnes per annum Davyhurst mine and to the north in Leonora is St Barbara Mines’ 1.5 million tonnes per annum Gwalia play – Australia’s deepest gold mine.
The Menzies goldfield has produced more than 785,000 ounces of gold in a 100-year period at no less than an eye-watering grade of 18.9g/t.
Brightstar Resources managing director Alex Rovira said: “At Lady Irene, we are following up some amazing hits including a 39m intercept, whilst at Aspacia we are looking to build confidence in our geological model. Aspacia presents an opportunity to delineate high-grade, near surface ounces. The Mineral Resources within Menzies presents a significant opportunity for Brightstar to commercialise and assist funding larger-scale development endeavours underway to create a genuine WA gold producer with meaningful scale through the existing processing infrastructure and resource base.”
The company’s earlier exploration activities at Menzies were successfully aimed at confirming the presence of mineralised gold systems underground. The new drill run has been designed to allow it to produce a JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate specifically for Menzies to improve the project’s financial viability.
While greenstone rocks are a good sign for gold miners, so are faults and shear zones – underground geological features which essentially trap gold and other minerals in the right conditions. The Menzies project straddles the Menzies shear zone, giving the acreage more than enough geological particulars to raise the eye.
Once the rigs are done at Menzies, they are expected to be moved across to what was formerly Kingwest’s Laverton gold project, a play with its own 460,000-ounce JORC resource.
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By Jonathon Davidson
