Brightstar Resources Limited (ASX: BTR) (Brightstar) is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of the gold rights at the Montague East Gold project (MEGP) from Gateway Mining Limited (ASX: GML) (Gateway).
HIGHLIGHTS
For further details regarding the Transaction please refer to the Company’s ASX announcement released on 1 August 20241.
Brightstar’s Managing Director, Alex Rovira, commented“The completion of the acquisition of the Montague East Gold Project from Gateway achieves the first step in Brightstar’s previously announced consolidation plan of the Sandstone district, adding shallow ounces and a meaningful Mineral Resource inventory to our portfolio of advanced exploration, development and producing gold assets in Western Australia.
We are working towards mobilising an RC drill rig to the Montague-Boulder and Whistler deposits in late October, which contain ~280koz Au of shallow, largely oxide material. It is our intent to move the Montague East Gold Project swiftly through resource drill-out and feasibility study workstreams to advance this asset towards development.
With 2Moz of gold Mineral Resources situated on granted mining leases in the Company, combined with our low capex growth plans and near-term development and production expansion, Brightstar is well placed to maximise value of the portfolio in an all-time high gold price environment.
Recent drilling success across the Lord Byron, Fish and Second Fortune deposits has illustrated the immense upside in the Company’s projects, as we seek to grow the Mineral Resource and de-risk future development through the DFS underway.”
MONTAGUE ACQUISITION
Brightstar, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Montague Gold Project Pty Ltd (MGP), has acquired the interests held by Gateway and its wholly owned subsidiary Gateway Projects Pty Ltd (GPWA) in certain mining tenements in respect of Gateway’s Montague Gold Project, with Brightstar obtaining 100% of the gold mineral rights and Gateway retaining all other mineral rights.
The total consideration paid by Brightstar in respect of the Montague acquisition is $14.0m, comprising:
Following Completion, the sale by Gateway of the Gateway Consideration Shares will be subject to orderly sales restrictions in consultation with Brightstar.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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:
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.
Gold doré bars (BTR005 – BTR016) poured on 9 March 2024
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 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 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 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 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 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
Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT, ASX: NEM, PNGX: NEM) ("Newmont") today announced that Natascha Viljoen, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, has been promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of the company. Ms. Viljoen will continue to report directly to Chief Executive Officer Tom Palmer.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250502352607/en/
Natascha Viljoen, President & COO of Newmont Corporation.
"This promotion is a recognition of Natascha's strong leadership as Chief Operating Officer since 2023, her commitment to safe operational delivery and deep connections with people both inside and outside the company," said Palmer. "Natascha's energy, passion and resolve will continue to be critical assets as we work to improve costs and productivity to deliver value to shareholders."
Palmer added, "This new leadership role for Natascha, which provides a balance of both strategic and operational focus, is right for the company at this time. Now that we have completed the rationalization of our portfolio following the Newcrest acquisition, we want to ensure that our leadership team is in the best position to support our people throughout the company to safely deliver on our commitments now and in the future. Natascha's new role is an important step in making that happen."
Prior to joining Newmont, Natascha served as the Chief Executive Officer of Anglo American Platinum, the world's largest primary producer of platinum. Natascha is a metallurgical engineer and holds a Bachelor of Engineering from North West University in South Africa and an Executive MBA from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
"I am honored and excited to have this opportunity to serve as President and Chief Operating Officer of Newmont, a company whose values I share and whose people I respect," said Viljoen. "I am looking forward to leading our efforts in this new capacity, and to ensure that all of our stakeholders – our teams, host communities, partners, customers and shareholders – benefit from our world-class portfolio."
About Newmont
Newmont is the world's leading gold company and a producer of copper, zinc, lead, and silver. The Company's world-class portfolio of assets, prospects and talent is anchored in favorable mining jurisdictions in Africa, Australia, Latin America & Caribbean, North America, and Papua New Guinea. Newmont is the only gold producer listed in the S&P 500 Index and is widely recognized for its principled environmental, social, and governance practices. Newmont is an industry leader in value creation, supported by robust safety standards, superior execution, and technical expertise. Founded in 1921, the Company has been publicly traded since 1925.
At Newmont, our purpose is to create value and improve lives through sustainable and responsible mining. To learn more about Newmont's sustainability strategy and initiatives, go to www.newmont.com .
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections and other applicable laws. Where a forward-looking statement expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. However, such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, expectation regarding cost and productivity improvements and other statements regarding future events or results. For a discussion of risks and other factors that might impact future looking statements , see the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 21, 2025, under the heading Risk Factors.
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Media Contact – Global
Shannon Brushe
globalcommunications@newmont.com
Investor Contact – Global
Neil Backhouse
investor.relations@newmont.com
Investor Contact – Asia Pacific
Natalie Worley
apac.investor.relations@newmont.com
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North Bay Resources, Inc. (the " Company " or " North Bay ") (OTC: NBRI) is pleased to announce delivery of 344 lbs. of gold concentrate to the Company's refinery partner Just Refiners, Reno, NV. Assay splits have been sent to ALS Geochemistry Reno, Nevada. Ore from the Company's Fran Gold Project was processed at the Company's Bishop Gold Mill. The concentrate represents approximately 15 tons of gross ore processed. Recent repairs to the Company's RakerClassifier and replacement of balls in the ball mill have been implemented to produce a finer grind targeting minus 150 mesh. This grind has been determined to be optimal for recovery. The concentrate is from the gravity only circuit with the flotation circuit currently under optimization and testing ( See Pic 1) . The Company recently received settlement on its first concentrate shipment ( see Press Release dated April 7, 2025 ),
Pic 1. Bishop Gold Mill Flotation Cells.
Flotation Circuit
The Company is testing and optimizing the flotation circuit at the Bishop Gold Mill. The testing of the Clarkson-Feeders for titration of the 5 reagents utilized in the flotation process has been completed.
The staged implementation of the final order of reagents, conditioning and residence time is being determined based on prior metallurgy work and existing equipment. The flotation chemistry utilizes a conditioner, gold promoter, sulphide promoter, activator, and frother. Determination is now underway to identify whether performance will be improved through staged addition of conditioner, gold and sulphides promoters followed by activator and frother or whether reagents will be combined in the single existing conditioning tank. Prior design utilized the ball mill and classifier as entry points for the initial 3 reagents, followed by activator and frother in the conditioning tank. The Company has added a centrifuge, for gravity primary design. This eliminates the possibility of treating the ore in the crushing circuit and reagents now must be added post-gravity recovery in the conditioning tank. A determination is being made to mix all reagents in a single step or adding a second conditioning tank for two phase reagent mixing either collectors and then activator/frother or two dosage mixing of all reagents. A final determination is expected shortly regarding the use of single or double conditioning tanks, with full-scale implementation of the flotation circuit to follow. All mechanical components are working and post-processing equipment including leaf-press and propane fired concentrate drying circuit are operational as well. Previous metallurgy work has determined a 97% recovery may be achieved with a combined gravity and flotation circuit with Fran Gold ore (see Press Release dated December 16, 2024 ).
Fran Gold Project
Data re-compilation of the 104 drill holes from Fran Gold continues. This now includes implementation of Leapfrog 3D modelling and resource estimate software, inclusive of pit-shell design for purpose of producing a resource estimate. The recent discovery of a bulk tonnage gold deposit at Fran ( see Press Release dated April 7, 2025 ) including 149m (488 ft.) of 0.9 grams per tonne has resulted in high priority focus on the re-evaluation of the Fran deposit.
Past exploration and development at Fran Gold, including over 18,000m (55,000ft.) of diamond drilling, has shown large intercepts of mixed vein and disseminated gold. The deposit area has been identified to be in excess of 1000m x 100m x 300m within a known strike length of 1700m. The Fran Gold Project is next to Centerra Gold's Mt. Milligan Project, with Reserves of 264Mt grading 0.3 gram per tonne gold and 0.2% copper and proximate to Artemis Gold's Blackwater Mine, with Proven and Probable Reserves of 334Mt grading 0.8 grams per tonne gold. Both Mt. Milligan and the Blackwater Mine are two of the largest new copper/gold and gold mines respectively, in North America.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of
North Bay ResourceS INC.
Jared Lazerson
CEO
X: @NorthBayRes
YouTube: North Bay Resources - YouTube
LinkedIn: North Bay Resources Inc | LinkedIn
This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eecc54e2-f06a-44ad-bc90-9c725e62691c
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Highlights
The grant will cover 50% of the direct drilling costs up to a maximum refund of $57,500. An initial two (2) diamond drillholes are planned to test the Ganymede IP geophysical anomaly previously identified but left undrilled by Meteoric Resources in 20221. Notably Ganymede has an IP signature equivalent to the Butchers Creek gold deposit. Drilling is planned to commence this 2025 field season with assay results scheduled approximately 6 weeks thereafter.
WIN Metals Managing Director and CEO, Mr Steve Norregaard, commented:
“We welcome the financial support of the Western Australian government via the 31st round of EIS grant funding.
This target represents a compelling opportunity to enhance the already significant Butchers Creek gold project. Without government support this target may well have remained untested.
Success with this would potentially be a step change for underpinning the economics of the project.
This support will fast track testing and we look forward to seeing what may be at Ganymede.”
Background
The Ganymede gold target is located to the south-east of the Butchers Creek open pit and Mt Bradley gold mines illustrated in Figure 1. Meteoric’s 2022 IP geophysical survey identified Ganymede to have a similar geophysical signature to the known Butchers Creek gold deposit. It is believed the Ganymede target is a potential fold repeat of the Butchers Creek gold deposit that has yet to be drill tested as is illustrated in Figure 2 below.
Figure 1: Ganymede location with reference to Butchers Creek and Mt Bradley gold mines
Figure 2: Schematic geology cross section and associated IP anomaly of the Butchers Creek gold deposit and Ganymede gold target
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This article includes content from Win Metals, 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.