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Brightstar Resources Limited (ASX: BTR) (Brightstar) is pleased to announce that the first gold bars from processing of ore from the Selkirk Mining JV have been produced, with ongoing gold processing activities at Genesis Minerals’ Gwalia processing plant located near Leonora, WA.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Maiden gold pour marks Brightstar’s first gold from the Selkirk Joint Venture at the Menzies Gold Project
- Current record high AUD gold price at +$3,250/oz positions Brightstar well for project economics
- All ore from Selkirk has been hauled and stockpiled at Genesis Minerals’ Ltd (ASX: GMD) Gwalia ROM Pad
- Processing and gold pours ongoing, with 50% of net project cashflows to be generated and distributed to Brightstar upon final reconciliation
Brightstar’s Managing Director, Alex Rovira, commented“We are thrilled to announce Brightstar’s inaugural gold pour from the Menzies Gold Project, with 38.7kg of gold doré poured yesterday at the Gwalia gold plant.
Our Joint Venture partner, BML Ventures, has confirmed that all ore has been hauled to Gwalia, with project and fleet demobilisation both progressing on schedule. The Selkirk Mining JV been conducted in a safe, productive and professional manner with gold revenues to be split on a 50/50 basis after project cost reconciliations.
We anticipate several more gold pours over the next few weeks, and look forward to updating the market with finalised cashflow updates once all gold revenue and project costs have been finalised for the Selkirk Mining JV.”
Figure 1 - Brightstar Board & Management with BTR001 Gold doré bar (Dean Vallve - COO, Alex Rovira - MD, Jonathan Downes - NED, Greg Bittar - Chairman)
Figure 2 - BTR001 Gold Pour
Figure 3 - BTR001-BTR004 Gold Doré bars
This ASX announcement has been approved by the Managing Director on behalf of the board of Brightstar.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Brightstar Resources, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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Brightstar Resources
Investor Insight
A gold-focused emerging gold producer with a clear pathway to production growth, Brightstar Resources presents a compelling investment case driven by its mining and development hubs strategy and a district-scale resource opportunity.
Overview
The price of gold stays strong. In April 2024, the yellow metal’s price passed US$2,400 per ounce for the first time. The reason is multifaceted. The world teeters on the brink of a severe recession while some markets attribute the increase to safe haven rush. Amidst ballooning interest rates, bank failures and falling bond yields, demand for gold continues to rise. At this precise moment, gold is simultaneously an excellent portfolio diversifier and a compelling hedge against ongoing inflation — particularly if one invests in the right company.
Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) aims to be that company. An emerging mining and development company, Brightstar occupies a strategic land position of roughly 1,200 square kilometers in the Sandstone Greenstone Belt, 300 square kilometers in the Laverton Tectonic Belt and 80 square kilometers of the Menzies Shear Zone.
The company also owns an existing processing facility that can potentially provide tremendous shareholder value in a low-capital cost restart scenario.
That plant, once fully refurbished and operational, could prove a key differentiator for the company, enabling fast gold production at a low capital cost. This is especially noteworthy given that many other gold companies trading on the ASX are largely focused on greenfield exploration and development. Even once those companies discover a promising resource, mining and processing facilities would still need to be built, undertakings which can incur significant upfront capital costs and take several years.
Brightstar's Laverton gold assets are all centered on a 100 percent-owned 300-square-kilometer tenure in the Laverton Tectonic Zone and all within 70 kilometers of the Laverton Processing Plant. Additionally, all resources within this zone are open along strike and at depth. Only minor drilling programs have been conducted in recent years, paving the way for significant exploration upside with the potential for further regional and greenfields discoveries.
Brightstar also owns 100 percent of the Menzies Gold Project, a contiguous land package of granted mining leases over a strike length of roughly 20 kilometers along the Menzies Shear Zone and adjacent to the Goldfields Highway.
In 2023 and 2024, the company announced a mineral resource upgrade to the Cork Tree Well deposit (Laverton gold project) and also delivered two maiden mineral resource estimates at the Link Zone and Aspacia deposits (Menzies gold project). This has grown the total group MRE by approximately 150 koz gold through organic exploration. Brightstar also recently announced the results from DFS-level metallurgical testwork programs at Cork Tree Well with returned recoveries over 90 percent, including a high gravity gold content, ranging from 25 percent - 60 percent.
The company has also acquired 100 percent of the shares and options of Linden Gold Alliance, a gold producer, developer and explorer with existing mineral resources of 350 koz @ 2.1 g/t gold near Brightstar in the Laverton district. Brightstar’s MRE has reached 1.1 Moz gold across the Menzies and Laverton projects, with an additional 0.35 Moz gold in resources added after the successful acquisition of Linden Gold Alliance.
In August 2024, Brightstar entered into a scheme implementation deed to acquire 100 percent of Alto Metals (ASX:AME), which owns the Sandstone gold project located in East Murchison. The project has a current mineral resource of 1.05 Moz of gold at 1.5 g/t.
Brightstar also completed the acquisition of the gold rights at the Montague East gold project (MEGP) from Gateway Mining Limited (ASX:GML). The project is located 70 km from the Sandstone gold project. The acquisition adds a further 9.6 Mt @ 1.6 g/t gold for 0.5 Moz gold to Brightstar’s JORC Mineral Resource Estimate, giving the company a total mineral endowment of 38.3 Mt @ 1.6 g/t gold for 2.0 Moz gold.
The acquisition of the MGEP from Gateway Mining and 100 percent of Alto’s shares creates a third district-scale resource base for the company called the Sandstone Hub. Upon consolidation of the Laverton, Menzies and Sandstone hubs, Brightstar’s mineral resources would reach 3 Moz at 1.5g/t gold.
Subsequent to the deal with Alto Metals, Brightstar entered into a $4 million drill-for-equity agreement with Topdrill to aggressively advance the consolidated Sandstone gold project. The deal strengthens Brightstar's financial capacity to fulfill its multi-hub exploration and development strategy, which includes the Menzies, Laverton and Sandstone hubs.
Company Highlights
- Brightstar Resources is an ASX-listed mining and development company with more than 3 million ounces of gold resources and an on-site processing infrastructure across its project locations in Laverton, Menzies and Sandstone in Western Australia.
- Brightstar's mineral assets are situated across roughly 300 square kilometers of 100-percent-owned land in the Laverton Tectonic Zone and ~80 square kilometers in the high-grade Menzies Shear Zone.
- The Laverton Gold project has a mineral resource of 9.7 Mt @ 1.6 g/t gold for 511 koz gold and the Menzies gold project has 13.8 Mt @ 1.3g/t gold for 595 koz gold.
- In 2023, the company completed a scoping study into the development of its Menzies and Laverton gold projects and the refurbishment and restart of its processing plant in Laverton.
- In 2023 and 2024, Brightstar completed a small-scale mining joint venture with BML Ventures which involved a 50/50 profit-sharing agreement to exploit the Selkirk deposit at Menzies. In April 2024, Brightstar announced that this joint venture delivered a net profit to Brightstar of $6.5 million.
- In June 2024, the company successfully acquired all of the issued ordinary shares and options in Linden Gold Alliance, a gold producer, developer and explorer with existing mineral resources of 350 koz @ 2.1 g/t gold near Brightstar in the Laverton district.
- As part of the merger with Linden Gold, Brightstar released a scoping study into Linden’s development-ready Jasper Hills gold project, which delivered key metrics including:
- 140 koz mined over 3.75 years (35 koz pa)
- Net present value of AU$99 million
- Internal rate of return of 736 percent
- Pre-production capital requirements of $12 million
- All-in sustaining costs of AU$1,972/oz
- Jasper Hills is located just 50 km SE of Brightstar’s processing plant in the Laverton gold project
- Brightstar has recently completed the acquisition of the gold rights at the Montague East gold project (MEGP) from Gateway Mining Limited (ASX:GML), and has entered into an agreement to acquire Alto Metals (ASX:AME) further creating the company’s third district-scale resource base known as the Sandstone Hub.
- Brightstar plans to continue generating shareholder value through a combination of development and strategic acquisitions along with some exploration.
Key Projects
Laverton Hub
Brightstar’s Laverton hub is comprised of the Cork Tree Well, Beta and Alpha project areas with the addition of the Second Fortune gold mine and the Jasper Hills projects.
Highlights:
- Cork Tree Well, Alpha and Beta have current total JORC mineral resource estimate of 9.7 Mt @ 1.6 g/t gold for 511 koz (52 percent measured and indicated category). All mineral resources are on granted mining leases
- Cork Tree Well (6.4 Mt at 1.4 g/t gold for 303 koz gold)
- Alpha (1.4 Mt at 2.3 g/t gold for 106 koz gold)
- Beta (1.9 Mt at 1.7 g/t gold for 102 koz gold)
- Main project area Cork Tree Well is open at depth and along strike with recent drilling results of 34.4 meters at 7.94 g/t gold from 43.5 meters (CTWMET004) and 27.6 meters at 17.8 g/t gold from 51 m (CTWMET003)
- Second Fortune has a mineral resource estimate head grade of ~11g/t gold with an average ore body width of ~0.6 meters.
- Jasper Hills is located 50 km from Brightstar’s existing processing facility along a wholly-owned private haul road, allowing unimpeded, direct access to both projects
- Permitted, previously mined and production-ready
- Last mined by current owners in 2020 with 23,000 oz gold mined
- Scoping Study outcomes include:
- Pre-production capex of $12 million required (maximum capital drawdown)
- Open pit mine at Lord Byron and underground mine at Fish
- Production of 141 koz over four years (35 koz per annum)
- LOM EBITDA of $135 million (@ AU$3,000/oz)
Menzies Hub
The Menzies Hub comprises a tenement holding of a contiguous land package of granted mining leases over a strike length of more than 20 km. The majority of deposits hosted along the Menzies Shear Zone are located adjacent to Goldfields Highway in Menzies (130km north of Kalgoorlie).
Highlights:
- Total Current Resource: 13.7 Mt at 1.3 g/t gold for 595 koz gold (36 percent measured and indicated)
- September 2023 scoping study showed the simultaneous development of open pit mining at Lady Shenton system and underground mining at Yunndaga:
- 1.9 Mt @ 1.63 g/t Au (100 koz) in open pit mining at Lady Shenton
- 650 kt @ 2.91 g/t (60 koz) in underground mining at Yunndaga
- Low capex of $22 million
- Significant opportunities to find virgin discoveries and brownfields mineral resource growth:
Sandstone Hub
The consolidated Sandstone project is over 100 km from existing third-party milling operations in the Murchison. This third processing hub boasts Alto’s Sandstone project with a mineral resource of 1.05 Moz at 1.4 g/t gold and Gateway’s Montague gold project with a mineral resource of 0.5 Moz @ 1.6 g/t gold.
Brightstar aims to fast-track the development timetable through:
- A focused, multi-rig infill drill out to take the inferred mineralisation into measured and indicated status to underpin mining studies and project advancement
- The application of Brightstar’s dedicated in-house geological and mining engineering team to retain crucial project IP and fast-tracked mining studies;
Brightstar Processing Facility
Situated close to Brightstar's existing mineral assets at Laverton, the Brightstar Processing Plant provides the company with a considerable operational head start over its peers.
Highlights:
- Extensive Infrastructure: Current facilities at the plant include two ball mills, a power station and gravity and elution circuits. Other infrastructure includes:
- A tailings storage dam
- An on-site process water pond
- A 60-person accommodation camp
- An airstrip at the Cork Tree Well Project
- Vehicles and equipment include a forklift, bobcat, two loaders, multiple light vehicles and a 30-tonne crane.
- A Leg Up Over Competitors: The presence of pre-existing processing infrastructure represents significant time savings compared to greenfields development. Brightstar had an independent valuation completed which valued the processing plant at AU$60 million in replacement value.
- Low Upfront Capital Cost: As part of the scoping study released in September 2023, GR Engineering estimated a capital cost requirement to refurbish and expand the milling capacity would cost just AU$18.5 million.
- Close to Existing Assets: Brightstar's major development projects — Cork Tree Well, Jasper Hills, Beta and Alpha — are all close to the plant.
Gold doré bars (BTR005 – BTR016) poured on 9 March 2024
Management Team
Alex Rovira - Managing Director
Alex Rovira is a qualified geologist and an experienced investment banker having focused on the metals and mining sector since 2013. Rovira has experience in ASX equity capital markets activities, including capital raisings, IPOs and merger and acquisitions.
Richard Crookes - Non-executive Chairman
Richard Crookes has over 35 years’ experience in the resources and investments industries. He is a geologist by training having previously worked as the chief geologist and mining manager of Ernest Henry Mining in Australia.
Crookes is managing partner of Lionhead Resources, a critical minerals investment fund and formerly an investment director at EMR Capital. Prior to that he was an executive director in Macquarie Bank’s Metals Energy Capital (MEC) division where he managed all aspects of the bank’s principal investments in mining and metals companies.
Andrew Rich - Executive Director
Andrew Rich is a degree qualified mining engineer from the WA School of Mines and has obtained a WA First Class Mine Managers Certificate. Rich has a strong background in underground gold mining with experience predominantly in the development of underground mines at Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) and Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX).
Ashley Fraser - Non-executive Director
Ashley Fraser is an accomplished mining professional with over 30 years experience across gold and bulk commodities. Fraser was a founder of Orionstone (which merged with Emeco in a $660-million consolidation) and is a founder/owner of Blue Cap Mining and Blue Cap Equities.
Jonathan Downes - Non-executive Director
Jonathan Downes has over 30 years’ experience in the minerals industry and has worked in various geological and corporate capacities. Experienced with gold and base metals, he has been intimately involved with the exploration process through to production. Downes is currently the managing director of Kaiser Reef, a high grade gold producer, and non-executive director of Cazaly Resources.
Dean Vallve – Chief Operating Officer
Dean Vallve holds technical qualifications in geology & mining engineering from the WA School of Mines, an MBA, and a WA First Class Mine Managers Certificate. Vallve was previously in senior mining and study roles at ASX listed mid-cap resources companies Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) and Calidus Resources (ASX:CAI).
Emerging gold producer and district-scale resource developer in Western Australia
Halcones Precious Metals: Advancing a Significant High-grade Gold Project in Northern Chile
Halcones Precious Metals (TSXV:HPM) is a gold exploration company focused on advancing its high-grade Polaris project in northern Chile, a premier mining region with excellent infrastructure. Polaris hosts multiple surface targets with significant gold values across a large, underexplored property, offering investors exposure to a high-potential discovery in a mining-friendly jurisdiction.
The Polaris Project is located within the metallogenic belt of the Atacama Fault Zone, a major geological corridor known for hosting numerous significant mineral deposits across Chile. Gold mineralization at Polaris is largely controlled by major structures, including the Izcuña and Médano faults, which provided pathways for mineralizing fluids and led to the formation of vein-hosted and stockwork-style gold deposits.
Currently, exploration efforts are focused on two main target areas in the southern part of the property adjacent to the Atacama fault:
- North Zone: A historic mining district with excellent gold assay results at surface
- South Zone: Another area of historic mining activity with high-grade gold values
Company Highlights
- Strategic Land Position: Controls 5,777.5 hectares in a historically productive gold district with multiple high-grade surface targets
- Proven High-grade Gold at Surface: 30 samples returned assays above 10 g/t gold, with values up to 55 g/t gold
- Large Mineralized Footprint: Recent sampling extended the gold-bearing trend to 3.9 km, with potential for further expansion
- Bulk Tonnage Potential: Gold-bearing stockwork mapped over a 250 m x 500 m area, suggesting potential for a large-scale open-pit operation
- Favorable Project Economics: Low-to-moderate elevation project with year-round access and proximity to established infrastructure
- Experienced Leadership: Management team with extensive experience in geology, mining exploration, and capital markets
- Geological Setting: Mineralization similar to well-known Abitibi gold deposits like Sigma-Lamaque, Goldex and Dome
This Halcones Precious Metals profile is part of a paid investor education campaign.*
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Halcones Precious Metals
Investor Insight
Halcones Precious Metals offers investors exposure to a high-grade gold exploration opportunity in mining-friendly Chile, with multiple surface targets showing significant gold values on a large underexplored property that benefits from excellent infrastructure.
Overview
Halcones Precious Metals (TSXV:HPM) is an emerging gold exploration company with a strategic focus on developing high-potential precious metals projects in Chile. The company's flagship Polaris project is located in the prolific mining region of northern Chile, approximately 150 km south of Antofagasta and 70 km north of Taltal.
Chile is one of the world's premier mining jurisdictions, known for its stable regulatory framework, developed infrastructure, and rich mineral endowment. The country is the world's largest copper producer and has a long history of successful mining operations by both major and junior companies. Chile's mining-friendly policies, skilled workforce, and established support services make it an attractive destination for mineral exploration and development.
The gold market is currently experiencing favorable macroeconomic tailwinds. Persistent global inflation concerns, geopolitical uncertainties, and central bank gold purchasing have pushed gold prices to record levels in 2025. As investors seek safe-haven assets amid economic volatility, gold exploration companies with promising early-stage assets like Halcones are well-positioned to capitalize on these market conditions.
Company Highlights
- Strategic Land Position: Controls 5,777.5 hectares in a historically productive gold district with multiple high-grade surface targets
- Proven High-grade Gold at Surface: 30 samples returned assays above 10 g/t gold, with values up to 55 g/t gold
- Large Mineralized Footprint: Recent sampling extended the gold-bearing trend to 3.9 km, with potential for further expansion
- Bulk Tonnage Potential: Gold-bearing stockwork mapped over a 250 m x 500 m area, suggesting potential for a large-scale open-pit operation
- Favorable Project Economics: Low-to-moderate elevation project with year-round access and proximity to established infrastructure
- Experienced Leadership: Management team with extensive experience in geology, mining exploration, and capital markets
- Geological Setting: Mineralization similar to well-known Abitibi gold deposits like Sigma-Lamaque, Goldex and Dome
Key Project: Polaris
The Polaris project is Halcones' flagship asset located in Chile's Coastal Belt, a region known for its significant mining history and mineral potential. The 5,777.5-hectare property is easily accessible via the Pan-American Highway and Route B-710, situated only 4 km from the Pacific Ocean. This strategic location provides exceptional logistical advantages, including proximity to the major mining center of Antofagasta, the ports of Antofagasta and Mejillones, and established power infrastructure.
The project is situated within the metallogenic belt of the Atacama Fault Zone, a major geological structure that hosts numerous significant mineral deposits throughout Chile. Mineralization at Polaris is primarily controlled by major faults, including the Izcuña Fault and Médano Fault, which created open spaces for mineralizing fluids, resulting in vein-hosted and stockwork gold mineralization.
Currently, exploration efforts are focused on two main target areas in the southern part of the property adjacent to the Atacama fault:
- North Zone: A historic mining district with excellent gold assay results at surface
- South Zone: Another area of historic mining activity with high-grade gold values
Historical mining at Polaris dates back to the early 20th century, when artisanal miners extracted high-grade gold from quartz veins and breccias. In the 1970s, smaller operations by local miners extracted approximately 5 tons of material per month over a decade. Despite this history of production, the property has never been systematically explored using modern techniques.
Recent surface sampling programs have significantly expanded the known mineralized footprint, extending the gold-bearing trend to 3.9 km with potential extensions of 2 km north and 1.5 km south. Chip channel samples have returned impressive values including 29.04, 20.05, 13.08, and 10.67 grams per ton (g/t) gold. The gold mineralization is strongly related to diorite rocks and quartz veins, with extensive stockwork veining indicating a well-developed system.
A particularly promising aspect of the Polaris project is the potential for bulk-minable stockwork mineralization. Gold-bearing stockwork has been mapped over a 250 m x 500 m area, with unknown limits. Initial surface sampling returned encouraging results, including an 85-meter channel sample averaging 1.21 g/t gold and a 30-meter sample in an old adit averaging 1.02 g/t gold.
The geological setting at Polaris is analogous to certain well-known Abitibi gold deposits such as Sigma-Lamaque, Dome and Goldex. Like these deposits, Polaris is:
- Adjacent to a large, long-lived and active continental-scale crustal break
- Host to historic high-grade mining focused on larger quartz veins at surface
- Characterized by a large surface expression of highly anomalous gold mineralization
- Potentially amenable to both high-grade selective mining and bulk tonnage approaches
With most of the large property remaining unexplored, Halcones is committed to an aggressive exploration program, including plans to complete 2,000 meters of drilling within 12 months as part of its acquisition commitments. The near-surface nature of the mineralization suggests potential for cost-effective open-pit mining if sufficient resources are delineated.
Management Team
Ian Parkinson - CEO and Director
Ian Parkinson brings a unique combination of industry and capital markets experience to Halcones. He spent 16 years as a sell-side mining analyst for several leading brokerage firms including Stifel GMP, GMP Securities, and CIBC World Markets. Prior to his analyst career, he worked for 10 years with Falconbridge and Noranda in various roles spanning exploration, development, metals trading, marketing, and business development. Parkinson holds an earth science degree from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario.
Vern Arseneau - COO and Director
Vern Arseneau has over 40 years of experience in exploration, project management and development, with the last 25 focused in South America, particularly Peru, Chile and Argentina. He spent 20 years working as exploration manager and senior geologist for Noranda and served as general manager of Noranda's Peru office. As vice-president exploration for Zincore Metals, he oversaw exploration and feasibility studies of two zinc deposits and discovered the Dolores copper-molybdenum porphyry in Peru. Arseneau holds a Bachelor of Science in geology.
Greg Duras - CFO
Greg Duras is a senior executive with over 20 years of experience in the resource sector, specializing in corporate development, financial management, and cost control. He has held CFO positions at several publicly traded companies, including Savary Gold, Nordic Gold and Avion Gold. Currently, he also serves as CFO of Red Pine Exploration. Duras is a certified general accountant and a certified professional accountant with a Bachelor of Administration from Lakehead University.
Larry Guy - Chairman
Larry Guy is a managing director with Next Edge Capital focused on strategic partnerships, initiatives, and new product development. His previous roles include vice-president with Purpose Investments and portfolio manager with Aston Hill Financial. He also co-founded Navina Asset Management, where he served as chief financial officer and director before the company was acquired by Aston Hill Financial. Guy holds a BA in Economics from the Western University and is a chartered financial analyst.
Patrizia Ferrarese - Director
Patrizia Ferrarese brings over 20 years of experience in capital markets, entrepreneurship and strategy consulting to the board. Currently VP of business design and innovation at Investment Planning Counsel, she oversees strategic growth initiatives in wealth management. Her career includes equity and options market making and trading in North America and co-founding an investment management company. Ferrarese is pursuing her Doctorate in Business Administration at SDA Bocconi and holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Economics from York University.
Michael Shuh - Director
Michael Shuh is a managing director of investment banking at Canaccord Genuity with over 20 years of experience. He leads the Financial Institutions Group at Canaccord Genuity, Canada's largest independent investment bank, and has deep expertise in structured finance and special purpose acquisition corporations. He serves as CEO and chairman of Canaccord Genuity Growth II, a publicly-listed SPAC that raised $100 million to pursue acquisitions. Shuh holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration from the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University.
Ben Bowen - Director
Ben Bowen has 20 years of experience building businesses across multiple sectors. After beginning his career with Xerox Canada, he acquired Seaway Document Solutions in 2002, which was subsequently sold in 2013. He later co-founded and served as CEO of a software company serving the global shared workspace industry. Bowen currently operates Open Door Media, a full-stack marketing firm focused on the lifestyle industry, and is a founder of Innovate Kingston.
Damian Lopez - Corporate Secretary
Damian Lopez is a corporate securities lawyer who works as a legal consultant to various TSX and TSX Venture Exchange listed companies. He previously worked as a securities and merger & acquisitions lawyer at a large Toronto corporate legal firm, where he worked on a variety of corporate and commercial transactions. Lopez obtained a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall and received a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Economics from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto.
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