Brightstar Resources has its sights set firmly on building its gold resource after revealing results from its latest 2000m reverse-circulation (RC) drilling campaign at its Cork Tree Well deposit in the Laverton Gold Belt.
The company says results from its Delta zone include 1m at 109.6 grams per tonne gold from 167m, 3m at 8.7g/t from 197m and 18m at 2.75g/t from 83m. Delta also revealed 9m at 3.05g/t gold from 203m and 13m at 1.24g/t from 156m, all in separate drillholes.
The Cork Tree Well project is just 30km north of the small town of Laverton in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields.
Brightstar Resources managing director Alex Rovira said: “We are pleased to receive the final assays from the Laverton gold Project RC program, after successful completion of the recent drilling at Menzies. This requires further follow up and significantly increases the potential for definition of further mineralisation at Delta and to the north, which is open for a further 3km. Brightstar has booked aircore drilling contractors to mobilise in early September for a ~4,500m campaign, which is intended to define targets for follow up RC drilling. With the scoping study nearing finalisation, planning for further RC and Diamond drilling at Menzies and Laverton is underway to commence later in the year in order to continue to grow the mineral resource base, upgrading resources within early-stage mining areas, and advance the projects towards near term production opportunities.”
The company’s latest drilling program was comprised of nine RC holes, with two key goals in mind.
Management says its first objective was to begin infill drilling in the Delta zone, the northernmost area of the Cork Tree Well mineralised system. It is the highest-grade zone defined to date and has not been subject to historical mining.
Brightstar is optimistic that its infill drilling at Delta within the recently-defined Cork Tree Well mineral resource estimate (MRE) will provide a better understanding on the structures controlling the higher-grade mineralisation.
It believes the gold mineralisation is linked to brittle-ductile deformation, such as is reported elsewhere in the Laverton district.
Brightstar’s latest drilling results indicate that the mineralised Delta structures are not the same as those in the main Cork Tree Well system and that there has been a change in both host-rock type and orientation, which the company interprets as being due to the confluence of multiple structures hosting the gold mineralisation.
In addition to the revised geological interpretation for Delta, results from a 2021 sub-audio magnetics geophysical survey also support the interpretation that the same litho-structural features that host the 303,000-ounce gold Cork Tree Well MRE continue for up to a further 3km to the north and should be drill tested.
Management’s second objective of the recent program was to further evaluate the high-grade plunging shoot within the main Cork Tree Well system to follow up on previous drilling results. They included the recently-revealed higher-grade intersection showing 10m at 4.54g/t gold from 192m, indicating that the mineralised zone might be amenable to underground mining.
Brightstar is using the information from its latest RC program to plan the next phase of drilling within its main Cork Tree Well MRE. It will continue to assess the three-dimensional structural complexities and attempt to grow its resource.
The company is also planning future diamond drilling to assist with the structural interpretations that will form a new or revised geotechnical model for both exploration and mine planning purposes.
It has also slated a September start to its booked 4500m AC program at Cork Tree Well North for initial shallow testing along the interpreted potential for the 3km northerly strike extension of the Delta mineralisation. The campaign is designed to generate anomalies for further AC infill work, or direct RC drill testing later this year.
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