Brightstar Resources has obtained regulatory approval to commence open pit mining at the Lady Shenton deposit in Western Australia’s Goldfields hub.
The company received approval from the Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration (DMPE) for the open pit mine, which sits within Brightstar’s broader 1.6-million-ounce Goldfields hub.
With the native vegetation clearing permit already secure, Brightstar said the Lady Shenton deposit is now mine ready for production.
Ore from the Lady Shenton deposit is set to be mined and trucked to Brightstar’s proposed carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing plant in Laverton.
Brightstar’s Managing Director Alex Rovira said: “We are pleased to receive approval for the Mining Development and Closure Proposal for the open pit development of the Lady Shenton mine in Menzies.
“This signifies a key milestone for the development of our Menzies assets, which once in operation will represent the first mining to occur since the successful Selkirk mining JV in 2024.
“Lady Shenton is now ‘mine ready’ and represents a low capex, high-margin deposit for Brightstar that complements the broader Goldfields Hub development.”
The company is well-placed as an unhedged gold producer as it has two owner-operator underground mines.
Brightstar’s Goldfields hub is aiming for a final investment decision in the March quarter and has a large-scale under-explored asset at the Sandstone gold project.
“With over 4 million ounces of mineral resources on granted mining leases, Brightstar has a strategic objective of developing both the Goldfields and Sandstone projects in the coming years as part of our aspiration to be a multi-asset, mid-tier scale WA gold producer.”
