Up to 4.3g/t shallow gold identified from first five holes at Brightstar Resources’ Link Zone at Menzies gold project
Assays pending for another 25 holes
Results part of a huge >30,000m drilling campaign across project portfolio
Resource confidence growth to start at 287,000oz Lady Shenton deposit
Special Report: The first gold assays from five holes at Brightstar Resources’ Link Zone at Menzies have returned consistent >1g/t gold grades from RC drilling, confirming mineralisation within and below AUD$3,000/oz optimised pit shells at shallow depths.
The massive drill campaign is being run off the back of pocketing $6.5m from small-scale gold production via its Selkirk JV with BML Ventures.
The >30,000m drilling program is targeting resource upgrades and extensions in conjunction with feasibility work streams across Brightstar Resources’ (ASX:BTR) portfolio of projects at Menzies and Laverton to add to its 1.45Moz resource base.
Drilling will also be conducted at the Linden Gold Alliance assets BTR is acquiring, which include the operating Second Fortune mine and the 293,000oz Jasper Hills project.
Link Zone and Lady Shenton drilling
A scoping study last year outlined a 100,000oz open pit mining scenario across Link Zone’s two virgin pits and a cut-back of the existing Lady Shenton mine.
The Link Zone deposits are a near surface opportunity with potential for strong economics given the shallow depth to mineralisation and favourable ore body geometry with immediate proximity to existing infrastructure.
Intercepts from the first five RC drill holes at the Merriyulah target at Link Zone show up to 4.3g/t, with best results of:
2m @ 3.9 g/t gold from 45m, 2m @ 1.4 g/t gold from 30m and 1m @ 1.1 g/t gold from 4m at hole LZRC24001
5m @ 1.3g/t gold from 28m and 1m @ 3.5g/t gold from 47m at hole LZRC24004
1m @ 4.3g/t gold from 27m and 1m @ 1.1g/t gold from 15m at hole LZRC24005
Assays are pending for remaining 25 holes completed at Link Zone, with RC drill rig now relocated to the adjacent Lady Shenton system, targeting areas for infilling and resource confidence growth.
The gold hunter aims to increase the confidence of the 287,000oz Lady Shenton system into measured and indicated categories, de-risking early stages of mining and providing valuable data for mine planning.
The Link Zone and Lady Shenton deposits. Pic supplied: (BTR)
BTR MD Alex Rovira says the drilling results follow from the successful completion of exploration campaigns by Brightstar at Menzies in the past twelve months.
“Results make up five out of six of the holes drilled into the Merriyulah portion of the deposit, with results providing validation of the existing Link Zone resource of 21,000oz, which includes a higher-grade core of 7000oz @ 1.9g/t gold,” Rovira says.
“With the success of the Selkirk Mining JV, which generated an excellent outcome earlier this year from the recovery of ~7,500 oz Au, we are looking forward to receiving the outstanding Link Zone assays and updating the resource confidence in the Link Zone MRE.”
The work will be followed by further optimisation studies evaluating a potential small-scale mining campaign.
“The RC rig has since moved to the Lady Shenton system, with infill drilling at Stirling and Pericles, targeting resource confidence upgrades and metallurgical samples to inform an updated MRE and potential upgraded mining inventories as part of the pre-feasibility workstreams presently underway,” Rovira says.
“Following completion of the initial RC campaign at Menzies, the rigs will then mobilise to Brightstar’s Laverton Hub with the high grade Second Fortune orebody to be targeted at depth for mine planning purposes.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Brightstar Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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