Gold developer Brightstar Resources has a rig in the wings for a 10,000m reverse circulation drilling program at its Cork Tree Well project in Western Australia’s highly prospective Laverton gold belt. The company says the planned work is designed to significantly grow its resource through testing northern extensions and down plunge opportunities.
The campaign will focus primarily on its premier Cork Tree Well deposit in addition to a short bout of exploratory adventure.
The Cork Tree Well deposit contains 237,000 ounces of gold and is by far the largest contributor to Brightstar’s total existing resource standing at 7.194 million tonnes grading 1.9 grams per tonne gold, containing 445,000 ounces of the precious metal.
The program builds upon Brightstar’s effort at Cork Tree Well in the final quarter of last year that was hailed as a success by the company. It managed to rake in a series of shallow high-grade hits with a standout strike of 1m grading 20.3 g/t gold from 23m. Another broader 12m hit going 4.25 g/t gold from 131m was encountered amongst others.
In addition to expanding its resource Brightstar says the campaign will cover the poorly drilled area within the project’s airstrip to fill in gaps in its resource model.
Interestingly, the company has also allocated some holes to test beneath its interpreted palaeochannel. The move appears inspired by a play 40km to the north by ASX-listed Regis Resources in 2008 where it found gold hiding under its ancient riverbed at the now operating Garden Well gold mine.
A step to the east will see a dozen holes plunged into the new target ‘Delta 2’ that was identified in historical drilling about 2km northeast of Cork Tree Well’s main lode.
The past holes were drilled by A1 Minerals in 2008 and intersected some high-grade gold with the standout 2m hit grading a tantalising 27.87 g/t gold from 38m downhole.
Brightstar says the anomaly extends about 500m along strike at over 1 g/t gold and sees it as a potentially significant addition to its gold tally and a source of ore for its envisioned future mill.
It will be the prospect’s first lot of holes from Brightstar since the purchase of the lease from Regis earlier in March.
For the relatively small sum of $10,000, Brightstar was able to expand its footprint and secure more ground right next to Cork Tree Well, opening the door for systematic exploration of the new lease in tandem with work on its chief body of gold.
The latest campaign could be a turning point for Brightstar with the upcoming assays a test of fire as it looks to stand tall in the Laverton gold arena.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
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