Brightstar Resources has returned its strongest Sandstone intercept yet, with 305 metres at 2.66g/t gold from deep drilling at Two Mile Hill. The mineralisation extends below the current resource, while a further 6,500-metre program is already testing how far the zone continues.
- 305m at 2.66g/t gold from 503m in TMHDD26005
- 811 gram-metres described as Brightstar’s largest Sandstone intercept
- Two additional bulk tonalite-hosted intercepts in TMHDD26004
- Results extend materially below the current 1.45Moz Two Mile Hill-Shillington resource
- Assays pending for TMHDD26006 as 6,500m follow-up drilling advances
Deep drilling delivers Brightstar’s biggest Sandstone intercept
Brightstar Resources Limited (ASX:BTR) has produced its largest-ever Sandstone intercept on a gram-metre basis, with hole TMHDD26005 returning 305 metres at 2.66g/t gold from 503 metres. The result totals 811 gram-metres and sits within the tonalite-hosted Shirvington Zone at the Two Mile Hill-Shillington deposit in Western Australia.
The second hole reported in the announcement, TMHDD26004, also delivered broad mineralisation: 80 metres at 2.64g/t gold from 499 metres and a further 240 metres at 1.16g/t from 601 metres. Both holes were drilled as part of a four-hole, approximately 3,800-metre deep diamond program designed to test continuity at depth, with TMHDD26005 positioned 50 metres north of TMHDD26004.
High-grade veins cut through wide tonalite zones
The broad intervals contain narrower, much higher-grade sections. In TMHDD26005, these included 4.1 metres at 26.1g/t, 5.5 metres at 25.2g/t and 4 metres at 60.8g/t, including 0.9 metres at 241g/t. TMHDD26004 returned a 1-metre intersection at 160g/t and a 43-metre zone at 3.49g/t, including 0.5 metres at 119g/t.
Brightstar says the results fit the established Two Mile Hill mineralisation style: wide, lower-grade mineralised tonalite punctuated by high-grade quartz-sulphide veins and visible gold. The company reported 93 individual visible-gold occurrences across all four holes in the drilling program, although visible gold is an observation rather than a substitute for the reported assays.
Results sit beyond the current 1.45Moz resource
The current Two Mile Hill-Shillington Mineral Resource Estimate stands at 24.6 million tonnes grading 1.8g/t gold for 1.45 million ounces. Brightstar said the new bulk intercepts continue materially below that estimate and could provide upside for a future resource update. That possibility remains prospective: the reported intervals are downhole lengths, true widths have not been confirmed, and no revised resource has yet been issued.
The latest results build on the earlier deep Two Mile Hill results, which included 305 metres at 1.33g/t gold from TMHDD26003 and mineralisation below the existing resource envelope. Brightstar’s Sandstone resource had reached 3.6 million ounces at 1.4g/t in September, according to the company’s cited prior announcement.
Follow-up drilling targets the zone’s limits
Assays are still pending for the fourth hole, TMHDD26006. Meanwhile, a two-rig follow-up campaign of approximately 6,500 metres began in October, targeting extensions of the Shirvington Zone along strike and at depth, as well as the western contact of the tonalite body. Brightstar says the current and follow-up drilling will feed into an updated Mineral Resource Estimate.
The immediate test is therefore not whether the headline intercept is striking, but whether its grade and geometry can be traced through enough rock to support a larger, mineable resource. The pending hole and the next round of drilling should provide the first clues.
Bottom Line?
The drilling has materially expanded the exploration story below Two Mile Hill, but resource growth still depends on continuity, true widths and the next estimate.
Questions in the middle?
- Will TMHDD26006 confirm the broad mineralised envelope seen in the two reported holes?
- How much of the deep tonalite-hosted mineralisation can be converted into classified Mineral Resources?
- What will the follow-up drilling show about the western contact and the zone’s strike and depth limits?