Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) said it completed definitive feasibility study for the staged development of the Menzies and Laverton gold projects in Western Australia, with an initial mine production target of approximately 6.4 million tonnes at 1.81 grams per tonne grade of gold for 338,528 ounces recovered in around five years, according to a Monday Australian bourse filing.
The study sets out average recovered ounces of around 70,000 ounces per annum. The production target is underpinned by the declaration of 4 million tonnes at 1.63 g/t grade of gold for 210,500 ounces of open pit ore reserves.
It projected an undiscounted pre-tax cash flow of AU$461 million at a spot gold price scenario of AU$5,000 per ounce, as well as total project peak funding requirements of around AU$120 million.
It executed a memorandum of understanding with Paddington Gold, owner of the Paddington processing plant, providing a framework for Brightstar and Paddington to advance towards a binding ore sale agreement for up to 2 million tonnes of ore to be delivered from the Menzies gold project from first half of 2026 for a period of up to two and a half years.
Its shares fell 10% in recent trading on Monday.