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    Brightstar Sandstone drill results: resource growth and pit options for mine planners

    December 9, 2025|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    Brightstar Sandstone drill results: resource growth and pit options for mine planners

    First reported on Australian Mining

    30 Second Briefing

    Brightstar Resources’ latest reverse circulation drilling at the Sandstone gold project in Western Australia has intersected new mineralised zones that could extend the current JORC mineral resource envelope. Step-out holes along strike and at depth from existing pits indicate continuity of gold-bearing structures beyond previously modelled limits, with multiple intercepts logged in fresh and transitional rock. Any resource growth at Sandstone would directly impact mine planning options for open-pit cutbacks and potential underground access in the Yilgarn greenstone belt.

    Technical Brief

    • Reverse circulation programme targets near-pit extensions around existing Sandstone open pits rather than greenfields step-outs.
    • Brightstar is prioritising zones where previous drilling terminated in mineralisation, indicating incomplete resource definition.
    • Logging distinguishes fresh, transitional and oxide domains, allowing refinement of metallurgical domains in the block model.
    • New intercepts in fresh rock could shift the oxide–fresh boundary, affecting pit wall design and blasting assumptions.
    • Any thickened mineralised zones beneath current pit floors would favour pushback designs over standalone underground portals.
    • Structural continuity along strike, if confirmed, would enable longer, simpler haul profiles between satellite pits and central plant.
    • Updated mineral resource estimates will directly feed revised mine schedules and cut-off grade optimisation for Sandstone.

    Our Take

    Brightstar’s recent large processing campaign at its Laverton gold operations in Western Australia suggests any new ounces defined at the Sandstone gold project could potentially be fast-tracked via existing regional plant capacity rather than waiting on standalone infrastructure.

    With Regis Resources also advancing a “significant pipeline” of near-mine and regional gold targets at Duketon and Tropicana, Western Australia is seeing multiple operators, including Brightstar, push hard on brownfields-style growth, which typically favours projects that can bolt onto established haulage and processing networks.

    Gold is one of the most frequently covered commodities in our mining database, and Sandstone’s exploration progress keeps Brightstar in a competitive queue of WA gold juniors where demonstrating resource quality and development optionality is often as important as headline size for attracting funding or JV interest.

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    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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