A lengthy mineralized interval has drawn market attention toward the quality of resource models, according to ZFX Shanhai Securities.
Brightstar's announcement on October 5 disclosed that a drill hole at Bull Oak returned an interval of 167 meters grading 2.07 grams of gold per tonne, the firm noted.
The company is incorporating the results into its infill drilling assessment, with the goal of enhancing the credibility of resources used in subsequent mine studies, according to ZFX Shanhai Securities.
The calculation of this broad interval did not apply a maximum internal dilution limit, and ZFX Shanhai Securities considers this disclosure to be just as important as the impressive headline figure.
A long interval may contain both high-grade and lower-grade portions, and actual mining selectivity still needs to be assessed alongside segment data, orebody boundaries and cost conditions, the firm said.
Treating drill hole length as true orebody thickness could also lead to misjudgments, it added.
The value of infill drilling lies in reducing uncertainty in interpretation between holes and providing more constraints for resource classification, according to ZFX Shanhai Securities.
Core samples can also be used for structural, geotechnical and metallurgical studies, helping to answer engineering questions such as whether the ore can be processed consistently and how pit slopes should be designed.
Therefore, the same gold content, if associated with different levels of confidence and recovery performance, would carry different development implications.
For future open-pit development, waste stripping volumes and pit geometry also affect costs, and these engineering constraints cannot be replaced by a single indicator such as gold grade, the firm noted.
Subsequent resource updates and pre-feasibility studies will determine how these results translate into project parameters.
ZFX Shanhai Securities said the assessment focus is on whether the proportion of higher-confidence resources, mining boundaries and processing assumptions can support each other.
Current drilling has strengthened the information base, but the newly reported mineralized intervals cannot yet be directly converted into confirmed gold output, it added.