Brightstar Sandstone gold camp: scale, pit design and MRE lens for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Brightstar Resources reports that ongoing diamond and reverse circulation drilling at its Sandstone gold project in Western Australia is confirming a large-scale gold camp with significant growth potential. The latest intercepts will feed into an updated Mineral Resource Estimate due within weeks, with a pre-feasibility study already scheduled to follow. For mine planners and geotechs, the emerging scale at Sandstone signals likely expansion drilling, pit optimisation work and geometallurgical characterisation across multiple lodes rather than a single-deposit development.
Technical Brief
- Diamond core and reverse circulation drilling are being run in parallel to characterise multiple lode geometries.
- Fresh intercepts are being logged for structural, lithological and alteration controls ahead of resource domaining.
- Core from the latest diamond holes will support density measurements and metallurgical testwork for the PFS.
- RC drilling is likely targeting infill and step-out positions to tighten spacing for open-pit optimisation.
- Updated Mineral Resource Estimate timing forces rapid QA/QC on assays, survey control and geological modelling.
- PFS scheduling implies early trade-off work on cut-off grade, pit shells and potential underground transition.
- Scale indications at Sandstone suggest future mine design will involve staged pits and shared processing infrastructure.
Our Take
In our database, Brightstar Resources features in several recent Western Australian gold items, signalling a rapid transition from toll treatment towards an integrated owner-operated portfolio anchored by both the Sandstone and Goldfields projects.
With Brightstar already committing to a 1.5 Mt/y processing hub at its Goldfields project and securing over $380 million in funding, any scale-up at Sandstone in Western Australia is strategically positioned to leverage shared processing, procurement and technical teams rather than greenfield standalone infrastructure.
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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