Increased M&A Activity a Win-Win for Gold Sector, Brightstar Resources Exec Says

Following the completion of its acquisition of Alto Metals, Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) plans to conduct 50,000 metres of reverse-circulation and diamond drilling, beginning next year, at Alto Metals' approximately 900 square kilometre Sandstone gold project in Western Australia.

In an interview with the Investing News Network, Brightstar Managing Director Alex Rovira outlined the next steps for merging Alto Metals with Brightstar’s assets and the strategy for moving forward.

“From an exploration perspective … it's really focusing on the Sandstone package. We will do near-mine brownfields exploration at our Menzies and Laverton gold projects. And really, the aspiration there is to take a number of those mines toward development decisions,” he said.

Brightstar’s Alto Metals acquisition is one of an increasing number of mergers and acquisitions within the gold space in recent years, fueled by a strengthening gold price and a desire to boost gold production.

In 2024 alone, Brightstar has acquired three companies — Linden Gold, Gateway Mining and Alto Metals — boosting the company’s gold resources and bringing it closer to production.

Rovira added that Brightstar’s global resources have grown from 400,000 ounces to 3 million ounces to date through a combination of M&A and resource exploration.

“For us in our business, it made a lot of sense to conduct some of this M&A, because it was almost cheaper at times to be acquiring ounces than it was to raise the money and explore for them. So we managed to consolidate a number of mispriced or undervalued opportunities in Western Australia,” he said.

Rovira offered his insight on the trend of increasing M&A in the gold sector, calling Northern Star Resources' (ASX:NST,OTC Pink:NESRF) planned US$5 billion acquisition of De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG,OTC Pink:DGMLF) a “win-win.”

“What that does is it frees up capital in the sector so investors can monetise those positions and they can look to reinvest that in other gold-mining companies. So it is good for liquidity, it's good for investors (and) ultimately for the companies as well. It provides access to capital whether there's operational synergies, different teams coming in and looking at different projects,” Rovira said.

Watch the full interview with Alex Rovira, managing director of Brightstar Resources, above.