Brightstar Resources Limited (ASX: BTR) (Brightstar or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has awarded an initial three-year agreement for the supply of all open pit drilling and energetics services with Drillforce, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aquirian, for the Lord Byron open pit mine in our Goldfields Hub.
The Lord Byron supply agreement is provided under an overarching executed Strategic Framework Agreement between for the Goldfields Hub operations on an initial five-year term plus extension options.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Brightstar has executed a strategic framework agreement (SFA) with Aquirian Limited (ASX:AQN)(Aquirian) for the supply of all drilling and energetics services for open pit mining
- The scope of the of the SFA is limited to the Goldfields Hub, for an initial period of up to five years
- In addition to the SFA, an initial three-year agreement for the supply of all drill and blast services has been executed with Drillforce WA Pty Ltd (Drillforce), a wholly owned subsidiary of Aquirian, for the Lord Byron open pit mine, targeted to commence operations in 2H’CY26
- Drillforce offers a fully integrated offering across the drill and blast value chain, including:
- a proprietary technology that incorporates the automated Collar Keeper® System onto brand-new Epiroc T45 drill and blast rigs;
- Western Australia’s largest independent Energetic material manufacturing & storage facility for mining applications in Wubin, WA
- Drillforce’s patented technology underpins the value proposition for Brightstar, achieving a balance between fragmentation and ore preservation which is expected to minimise mining dilution and optimising revenue, costs and ore recovery
- Optimised blasting practises enables reduced ore dilution, better dig productivity and lower load and haul costs in open pit mining
- The removal of traditionally used PVC piping in the blastholes also reduces direct costs and minimises possible blockages and crusher downtime in the processing circuit
- Drillforce’s automated design also minimises man time spent out of the drill rig, thereby improving the safety environment for those operators within the open pit
Brightstar’s Managing Director, Alex Rovira, commented:
“We are excited to be partnering with Aquirian for our open pit drill and blast services for the Goldfields Hub. Aquirian’s vertically integrated business and patented technology provides a material value proposition for Brightstar, with a strong operational focus on ore preservation during the drill and blast sequence which is anticipated to deliver material benefits to Brightstar’s open pit mining operations.
Importantly, Aquirian’s emphasis on precision, data-driven execution and safety performance is expected to support improved blast performance, optimise material movement and contribute to disciplined cost control, which are key drivers of sustainable production and margin performance to maximise value across our operations.
In addition to maximising the performance of our already-defined open pit developments, Brightstar continues to assess opportunities for possible increases to the size of the Lord Byron open pit mine, compared to what was illustrated in the DFS2.0, representing upside to the currently defined mine plan.”
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