Brightstar Resources Limited (ASX: BTR) (Brightstar) is pleased to announce the second round of priority assay results from the remaining two metallurgical diamond drillholes at Cork Tree Well (CTW) within the Laverton Gold Project (LGP). These two holes were part of a broader 20 hole diamond drilling program1 which has now been successfully completed.
HIGHLIGHTS
Assays received from the final two metallurgical diamond holes completed at Cork Tree Well with bonanza-grade gold assays up to 1028.37g/t AuHigh-grade results substantiated by numerous observations of visible gold in both drill holesIntercepts returned include 27.6m @ 17.77g/t Au from 51m (CTWMET003)CTWMET003 was drilled into the unmined central deposit at Cork Tree Well, with the gold mineralisation entirely contained within a dolerite - quartz breccia unitIntercepts returned below the historical shallow open pit within CTWMET001 include:11.4m @ 3.1g/t Au from 133.5m (estimated true width), and8.3m at 1.45g/t Au from 120.7m (estimated true width)Twenty-hole diamond drilling program successfully concluded with metallurgical and geotechnical testwork underway to feed into PFS workstreamsThe drilling campaign represented the first diamond holes drilled at Cork Tree Well by Brightstar, with our understanding of the geology and mineralisation styles being strengthened by the knowledge being gained from this recently completed program.
Today’s results continue to reinforce our view that the gold mineralisation at Cork Tree Well is structurally hosted, with a mafic metadolerite host rock observed in CTWMET003 whilst gold mineralisation returned in CTWMET001 is positioned within the sedimentary package underneath the historically mined shallow open pit.
The four metallurgical drillholes (CTWMET001 – 004) were drilled into the known orebody locations that fall within the optimised $2,750/oz pit shells generated in the 2023 Scoping Study3, with CTWMET003 and CTWMET004 drilled down plunge to the orebody to deliver maximum rock mass for metallurgical testwork and CTWMET001 and CTWMET002 drilled perpendicular to the orebody and represent estimated true width.
Given the calibre of the assays received from the drilling to date, Brightstar continues to see strong potential to build on the existing 303koz @ 1.4g/t Au Mineral Resource4 both at depth with high-grade plunging shoots and strike extensions targeting the structurally-controlled mineralised trends. The high-grade results returned to date are significantly higher than the current 1.4g/t Au head grade of the Mineral Resource and 1.85g/t mine grade from the 2023 Scoping Study, representing significant upside.
We look forward to updating shareholders with more information on the diamond program, which forms the basis for metallurgical and geotechnical testwork workstreams within our ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study5.
Figure 1 - CTWMET003 at 54.05m, showing visible gold (VG, circled) with $2 coin (20.5mm diameter) for scale
Figure 2 - CTWMET001 at 138.75m, showing visible gold (VG, circled) with tape measure for scale
Table 1 - Significant Intercepts (>1g/t Au) for CTWMET001 & CTWMET003
Figure 3 - Q1/24 Diamond Drill Program – Cork Tree Well
Due to the nuggety and high-grade nature of the gold mineralisation observed in CTWMET001 and CTWMET003, multiple samples had repeat assays completed following from best QA/QC laboratory practice. The repeat fire-assays provided additional analytical insight into the nuggety nature of mineralisation in addition to the visible gold observed. Where multiple repeat assay runs occurred, an average of the results has been used in the reporting in Table 1 above and within this announcement. The full breakdown of the re-assayed samples are outlined below in Table 2-3.
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