Brightstar Resources Limited (ASX: BTR) has announced the commencement of Phase Two drilling at the Yunndaga deposit, a key component of the Menzies Hub. Brightstar Resources is an emerging gold development company listed on the ASX, based in Perth, WA. The company holds a portfolio of high-quality assets in Western Australia, with 3.0Moz of Mineral Resources across the Goldfields and Murchison regions.
The Yunndaga deposit has a current resource estimate of 3.4 million tonnes at 1.4 grams per tonne of gold, totalling 156,000 ounces. Historical mining at Yunndaga produced over 270,000 ounces of gold at an average grade exceeding 16g/t Au between 1896 and 1943. Further open pit mining in the mid-1990s yielded an additional 64,000 ounces at 2.5g/t Au. Phase One drilling, completed in April, involved approximately 6,100 metres of RC drilling, focused on infilling the mineral resource estimate.
Phase Two drilling will consist of 5,000 metres of RC drilling and 2,500 metres of diamond drilling. The objectives of this phase are to extend the resource and provide further infill. The diamond drilling component is intended to provide essential geotechnical data and metallurgical samples to advance development work at the deposit. A feasibility study from June 2025 highlighted the potential for an underground operation producing 0.6 million tonnes at 2.6g/t Au, yielding around 50,000 ounces of recovered gold.
Alex Rovira, Managing Director of Brightstar, stated that this drilling phase is crucial for the company’s accelerated Menzies development plans. He emphasised the potential for an underground mining operation that complements the proposed Lady Shenton open pit mine. The combined drilling program will provide geological, geotechnical, and metallurgical data to de-risk the project and test exploration potential outside the existing resource, aligning with the optimised mine plan.
