Brightstar finds gold continuing below Two Mile Hill resource

Deep hole extends gold below 1.45Moz resource

Brightstar Resources Limited (ASX:BTR) has found a substantial continuation of gold mineralisation beneath the existing resource at Two Mile Hill-Shillington, with the first assay result from its deep drilling campaign returning 173 metres at 1.42g/t gold from 716 metres.

The interval sits below the current Mineral Resource envelope and forms part of a broader 305-metre intercept grading 1.33g/t gold from 584 metres in hole TMHDD26003. The result is significant because it extends the mineralised tonalite, the principal host rock at Two Mile Hill, into ground not currently counted in the deposit’s 1.45 million-ounce resource.

That resource was almost doubled in September, when the Two Mile Hill resource upgrade lifted the deposit to 1.45Moz and the wider Sandstone Gold Project to 3.6Moz. The latest drilling does not itself alter those figures: any resource growth remains dependent on further drilling, geological modelling and a future resource estimate.

Broad tonalite intercept carries higher-grade zones

Within the bulk intercept, Brightstar reported several higher-grade sections, including 28 metres at 1.95g/t from 713 metres and six metres at 11.2g/t from 765 metres. The latter included a one-metre interval grading 59.9g/t gold. Additional tonalite-hosted results included 6.7 metres at 5.13g/t from 484 metres and 1.2 metres at 11.1g/t from 1,010.5 metres.

The company said the four-hole, approximately 3,800-metre program identified 93 visible-gold occurrences and extended the known width of the tonalite intrusion to more than 400 metres. The western contact was not reached, despite drilling beyond planned depths, leaving the full geometry of the host unit unresolved. Reported lengths are downhole intervals, and true widths have not yet been confirmed.

Three assays and 6,500 metres remain ahead

Assays from holes TMHDD26004, TMHDD26005 and TMHDD26006 are still pending. Brightstar plans to follow those results with a multi-rig drilling program of about 6,500 metres, targeting the Shirvington Zone along strike and at depth, as well as the western tonalite contact.

The company has also said it intends to incorporate the current and follow-up drilling into an updated Mineral Resource estimate. The immediate test is therefore not whether one deep hole can support a larger headline number, but whether the remaining assays establish continuity across the zone and provide enough definition for underground mine planning. Brightstar’s Sandstone pre-feasibility study is due this quarter, adding timing pressure to the interpretation of a deposit that is still being extended.