ASX-listed Brightstar Resources says work on its flagship Sandstone gold project in Western Australia is progressing on schedule, with a maiden ore reserve and prefeasibility study (PFS) targeted for release in early September this year.

The company on Tuesday outlined a two-year strategic plan aimed at transforming Sandstone into a district-scale, long-life production centre, underpinned by organic resource growth, accelerated reserve conversion and appropriately sized processing infrastructure.

Sandstone currently hosts a consolidated mineral resource of 2.4-million ounces at 1.5 g/t gold, with about 1.6-million ounces located within 150 m of surface, supporting a predominantly openpit mining strategy.

Brightstar said three drilling rigs were being mobilised to Sandstone to support a major infill and extensional drilling campaign in 2026, with about 100 km of drilling planned across the year. The remaining 19 km of infill drilling is expected to be completed during the current March quarter for inclusion in the PFS.

To date, the company has completed about 96 km of drilling at Sandstone, with assays pending for about 20 000 m of recent aircore, reverse-circulation and diamond drilling.

MD Alex Rovira said work was progressing in parallel with development activities at the company’s Goldfields hub.

“In parallel with the on-going work for the near-term development of our Goldfields project, exploration and PFS activities continue apace at our flagship asset - Sandstone.

“With a material mineral resource base of 2.4-million ounces at 1.5 g/t gold, of which 1.6-million ounces is found within the top 150 m of surface, Sandstone is a large-scale and significantly underexplored project.

“From a growth-perspective, Brightstar owns nearly the entirety of the Sandstone greenstone belt, with 1 800 km² of prospective tenure.

“To date, the bulk of the exploration work has been infill-focused to ensure the PFS delineates a robust maiden ore reserve which we expect will demonstrate the significance of Sandstone’s value and production potential. Once the infill drilling programmes conclude in the March quarter, exploration efforts will be expansion-focused to target material growth to the existing mineral resources,” Rovira said.

Brightstar expects the PFS infill drilling programme to support a material upgrade in measured and indicated resources by mid-2026 and underpin the project’s maiden ore reserve.

The company anticipates that about 75% of the mineral resources being assessed for openpit mining will have sufficient drilling density to enable higher-confidence classification by the time the PFS is delivered.

In addition to openpit opportunities, Brightstar is also advancing the Two Mile Hill underground deposit, which hosts a mineral resource of 11-million tonnes at 1.6 g/t gold for about 600 000 oz. The deposit is located about 3 km from the proposed processing plant site and could provide higher-grade feed to complement surface mining.

As part of its development strategy, Brightstar has identified a four- to five-million-tonne-a-year processing plant as the optimal capacity for Sandstone, based on the current resource base and projected mine life.

The company said this throughput range could support an initial mine life of between six and eight years, with potential for extension through ongoing exploration success.

Engineering, costing, permitting and approvals workstreams for the processing facility are progressing in support of the PFS.

Illustrative production scenarios suggest output could range from about 120 000 oz/y to more than 220 000 oz/y, depending on throughput and head grades, although Brightstar cautioned these figures were conceptual and not production forecasts.

Brightstar said its December 2025 acquisition of Aurumin concluded its current merger and acquisition strategy, consolidating more than four-million ounces of mineral resources across the Goldfields and Sandstone hubs.

Since 2023, the company has expanded its resource base from about 400 000 oz to more than 4-million ounces through a combination of acquisitions and exploration, at an average acquisition cost of about A$45/oz.

With portfolio consolidation complete, Brightstar said its focus had shifted from inorganic growth to operational delivery and sequential project development.