Brightstar 1.5 Mt/y gold plant EPC: design and infrastructure notes for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
GR Engineering Services has been named preferred EPC contractor by Brightstar Resources for the new Laverton Processing Plant, a 1.5 Mt/y gold facility in the Eastern Goldfields, about 35 km southeast of Laverton in Western Australia. The plant will service Brightstar’s broader Goldfields gold project, consolidating ore treatment capacity in a centralised processing hub. For engineers, the 1.5 Mt/y design sets the basis for sizing comminution, tailings storage and water supply infrastructure in a region already constrained by competing gold operations.
Technical Brief
- EPC scope with GR Engineering implies single-point responsibility for design, procurement, construction and commissioning.
- Preferred contractor status allows GR Engineering to commence early engineering before final contract execution.
- Laverton Processing Plant forms part of Brightstar’s multi-asset Goldfields gold project development strategy.
- Brownfields regional context means plant design must integrate with existing haulage routes and shared services.
- EPC model typically fixes price and schedule, transferring construction and interface risk away from Brightstar.
- Centralised plant configuration enables rationalisation of multiple small ore sources into a single processing flowsheet.
Our Take
In our database of 1054 Mining stories, Western Australia gold projects like Brightstar’s tend to progress from study to plant construction more quickly than base metal projects, reflecting the mature permitting environment and existing infrastructure in the Eastern Goldfields.
A 1.5 Mt/y plant scale positions the Brightstar gold project in the mid-tier range of Australian gold operations, which often seek bolt-on feed from nearby deposits; this could make the Laverton Processing Plant a regional hub for toll treatment or satellite ore sources within trucking distance of the town.
Among the 1971 Projects/Contract Award pieces, GR Engineering Services appears frequently on gold plant EPC and upgrade work in Australia, suggesting Brightstar is leveraging a contractor with a track record of delivering similar-sized gold circuits in comparable climatic and geotechnical conditions.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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