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 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.
The company has also acquired a relevant interest in 96.75 percent shares and 96.81 percent optionshares and 96.81 percent option 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. Brightstar has commenced the compulsory acquisition process for the remaining Linden shares and options in respect of which it has not received acceptances under the agreement.
In August 2024, Brightstar entered into a scheme implementation deed to acquire 100 percent of Alto Metals, 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.
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 and Laverton hubs and the Sandstone hub.
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 god 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.
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
Cork Tree Well is a formerly operating mine, producing 45 koz of gold over its lifespan. Located roughly 35 kilometers north of Laverton on Bandya Station Road, the project’s JORC 2012-compliant mineral resource of 6.4 Mt at 1.4 g/t for 303 koz of gold.
Second Fortune is an operating underground gold mine owned and run by Linden Gold, which is the subject of an off-market takeover by Brightstar announced in March 2024. Second Fortune has produced +14,000oz gold in FY24 year to date and is run under an ‘owner operator’ model.
Second Fortune has a high-grade MRE of 165kt @ 10.9 g/t gold for 58 koz. Limited modern and systematic exploration has occurred across the ~20km of strike length of prospective geology at Second Fortune. This presents a superb opportunity to leverage existing team, camp & related infrastructure to rapidly assess targets and conduct efficient drilling programs to further grow the MRE and extend the mine life at Second Fortune.
Situated 130 kilometers north of the globally significant Kalgoorlie gold deposit, Menzies represents one of Western Australia's leading historic gold fields. The project, fully owned and operated by Kingwest before its merger with Brightstar, consists of a contiguous land package of a strike length above 20 kilometers. All deposits are now 100 percent owned by Brightstar and lie within granted mining leases.
Brightstar intends to leverage existing processing infrastructure in the district to monetise the high-grade open pit ounces produced by this mine.
Located immediately adjacent to the Brightstar Plant, the Beta Project includes a 60-person camp. It contains a combined JORC 2012-compliant mineral resource of 1,882 kt at 1.7 g/t for 102 koz of gold. The deposit occurs along the Eastern Margin of the Laverton Tectonic Zone, notable for hosting multiple major gold occurrences including Granny Smith, Keringal, Red October and Sunrise Dam.
Hosting a combined JORC 2012-compliant mineral resource of 1,452 gold at 2.3 g/t for 106 koz, the Alpha Project. Future exploration programs and feasibility studies will seek to potentially capitalize on Alpha's close proximity to Beta.
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).
Kalgoorlie Gold Mining (ASX:KAL) (‘KalGold’ or ‘the Company’) has commenced aircore drilling at two new exploration target areas within the Pinjin Gold Project on 9 October 2024 (Figure 1).
Figure 1 – New drill areas (pink labels) that are the focus of the new drill program at Pinjin. Projection: MGA 94 Zone 51.
Testing Two New Gold Target Areas
The aircore drill program currently underway focuses on two new exploration target areas at Kirgella West and Kirgella East (Figure 1). The target areas are both located near to the Kirgella Gift and Providence deposits where the Company recently defined a JORC (2012) Inferred Mineral Resource of 2.34 Mt at 1.0 g/t Au for 76,400 oz (ASX: KAL 25 July 2024). Both target areas show promising structural and geological complexity that has potential to host gold mineralisation. These targets have not been previously drill-tested and so are undergoing first-pass, widely spaced drilling in this program.
The initial program is scheduled to run for two weeks, drilling up to 4,500 m across key target areas in priority order.
KalGold Targets Untapped Potential in Southern LTZ
This marks KalGold’s first systematic assessment of the gold potential of the greater Pinjin Project area. For the first time, we are moving beyond historic efforts at Kirgella Gift and Providence, and the Wessex prospect adjacent to the Anglo Saxon gold mine.
KalGold believes the southern part of the Laverton Tectonic Zone (LTZ) holds significant potential, comparable to its northern end, which hosts major gold deposits like Sunrise Dam, Granny Smith, Wallaby and the Laverton Goldfield (Figure 2). The southern LTZ, remains underexplored due to poor surface exposure and limited historic exploration efforts. However, recent discoveries like Rebecca in the LTZ and Breaker/Lake Roe in the adjacent Celia Tectonic Zone show the area’s potential. KalGold aims to make similar discoveries on its LTZ tenure.
Figure 2 – KalGold’s Pinjin Gold Project within the Laverton Tectonic Zone, showing current targets, work programs and other major deposits of the region. 50km grid. Projection: MGA 94 Zone 51.
KalGold believes that drilling is the only effective way to test the LTZ on our Pinjin Gold Project, given transported cover over much of the area. Typically this approach results in several misses, but it also has the potential for significant discoveries. By applying a scientifically rigorous approach, KalGold is increasing its chances of success, focusing on key target areas that display geological, geophysical and geochemical hallmarks of gold mineralisation.
Progress will be driven by results, as well as logistics. Currently, KalGold is working to secure a new heritage survey over the area, with a focus on E28/3134. Heritage clearance of the unexplored eastern areas is important for on-ground investigation where the high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Rebecca sequence are interpreted to be juxtaposed by the LTZ against the host sequence of the Pinjin Goldfield. Additionally, known palaeochannel distributions are considered, allowing for initial exploration of shallow targets before potentially pursuing targets at depth as the palaeochannels can be over 100m deep.
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This article includes content from Kalgoorlie Gold Mining Limited, 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.
Barrick (NYSE:GOLD)(TSX:ABX) will release its Q3 2024 results on Thursday, November 7, 2024. President and CEO Mark Bristow will host a live presentation of the results that day in London, UK, at 11:00 EST 16:00 UTC, with an interactive webinar linked to a conference call. Participants will be able to ask questions.
The company will release its preliminary production, sales and cost information for Q3 2024 on October 16, 2024.
Q3 RESULTS ANNOUNCEMENT
The webinar will remain on the website for later viewing and the conference call will be available for replay by telephone at 1 855 669 9658 (US and Canada toll-free) and +1 412-317-0088 (international toll), replay access code 8607451.
The Q3 2024 presentation materials will be available on Barrick's website at www.barrick.com.
Enquiries:
Claudia Pitre
Investor Relations and Corporate Access
+1 416 307 5105
Email: cpitre@barrick.com
Kathy du Plessis
Investor and Media Relations
+44 20 7557 7738
Email: barrick@dpapr.com
Website: www.barrick.com
News Provided by GlobeNewswire via QuoteMedia
Highlights:
These high-grade gold assays continue the trend found in our original rock chip discoveries at Titan1 by emerging from quartz-iron veining and are therefore not analogous to conglomerate mineralisation. This veining structure will vary throughout Titan but the structure continues to demonstrate its potential. We are looking forward to further gold exploration at Titan and over the greater Carlow tenement.”
Titan Prospect
The Titan prospect is located towards the northern part of the Carlow tenement E47/1797, in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia. Titan has had minimal exploration work conducted previously other than broad spaced soil sampling and a constrained moving loop transient electromagnetic survey (MLTEM).
Figure 1. Artemis West Pilbara tenements with current known prospects named
The Company has followed up the preliminary ground reconnaissance undertaken in August 2024 with a second phase of sampling. This second phase has confirmed the previously reported over-limit assay results and also identified further potential mineralised areas through the discovery of additional high grade, previously untested quartz/iron-oxide veins. In total, 97 samples were collected and sent to the laboratory for processing. The majority of samples were collected from in-situ veining with some sub-crop and three float samples.
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This article includes content from Artemis 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.
HIGHLIGHTS
Figure 1: Geophysical interpretation has identified five high priority targets.
This survey complements the previous magnetic and IP/resistivity surveys completed over the Chacon grid, some 5km to the north-west. Both surveys highlight the strong structural controls, the intense alteration, and the coincident geophysical signatures.
Previously the Chacon Grid had been mapped and sampled over a strike length of two kilometres, but recent reconnaissance has indicated the structure may extend for a strike length of up to six kilometres. It is expected that further mapping, geochemistry, geophysics and drilling along strike and between both the Chacon Grid and the La Javiela vein systems will highlight a mineralised structural corridor up to 10km in length.
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This article includes content from Piche 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.