Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR,OTCQB:BTRAF) said on Monday (September 22) that the Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration has approved its mining proposal and mine closure plan for the Lord Byron project.
Lord Byron is located approximately 85 kilometres southeast of Laverton, Western Australia.
The gold asset was acquired by Brightstar as part of its purchase of Linden Gold in July 2024.
Lord Byron is also roughly 50 kilometres from Brightstar’s existing processing facility and within the company’s primary production center, Laverton Hub. Laverton Hub holds a total resource of 848,000 ounces.
Lord Byron’s resource is currently estimated at 2.2 million tonnes at 1.6 grams per tonne gold for 115,000 ounces.
“It is great to see full mining approvals received for the open pit development of the Lord Byron mine, which is pivotal to accelerating gold production growth in our Laverton Hub” commented Managing Director Alex Rovira.
According to Brightstar, the Lord Byron open pit is located less than 10 kilometres from its operational Fish underground mine, whose construction resulted in a “streamlined, low capex development.”
“This allows Brightstar to rapidly commence development of the Lord Byron open pit to coincide with our proposed mill construction, due to commence in H1 CY26,” Rovira added. “Recent exploration efforts at Lord Byron point to material upside to the current Mineral Resource and potential for additions to the current mine plan.”
A drill hole directly below the proposed Lord Byron south open pit recently returned a result of 32 metres at 7.16 grams per tonne gold, adding to Brightstar’s confidence in the region.
In July, Brightstar entered into a scheme implementation deed to acquire Aurumin (ASX:AUN), aiming to consolidate the companies’ Sandstone assets. The transaction is expected to close in October.
Following the approvals, Lord Byron is on track for development and production in mid-2026. The Laverton processing plant is slated to begin construction in the first quarter of 2026.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Brightstar Resources is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.
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