Brightstar Sources has secured approval from the Division of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration (DMPE) for its Lord Byron challenge, located round 85km south-east of Laverton, Western Australia (WA).
This approval marks the completion of the environmental approval course of following the Native Vegetation Clearing Allow (NVCP) granted in July 2025.
Put money into Gold
With approvals now in place, the corporate plans to start creating the Lord Byron open pit within the second half (H2) of calendar yr 2026 (CY26), previous to commissioning the proposed new a million tonnes every year (mtpa) carbon in leach processing plant in Laverton.
In line with the definitive feasibility examine improvement schedule, Brightstar goals to start development of the Laverton processing plant within the first quarter of 2026.
This timeline will enable mining operations at Lord Byron to begin in H2 CY26, facilitating the stockpiling of mill feed previous to commissioning.
Brightstar managing director Alex Rovira stated: “It’s nice to see full mining approvals obtained for the open-pit improvement of the Lord Byron mine, which is pivotal to accelerating gold manufacturing progress in our Laverton Hub. Importantly, the Lord Byron open pit is situated lower than 10km from our operational Fish underground mine, with floor infrastructure objects already in place because of the development of Fish leading to streamlined, low capex improvement.
“This permits Brightstar to quickly begin improvement of the Lord Byron open pit to coincide with our proposed mill development, resulting from begin in H1 CY26.
“Current exploration efforts at Lord Byron level to materials upside to the present mineral useful resource and potential for additions to the present mine plan. Drill gap LBRC25001 returned a spectacular results of 32m @ 7.16g/t [gram per tonne] Au [gold], which was instantly beneath the underside of the proposed Lord Byron south open pit.”
The Lord Byron challenge has a historical past of mining exercise, having been operated by Crescent Gold in 2011–12, earlier than passing on to Focus Minerals in 2012.
In 2019, Lord Byron Mining acquired the challenge and initiated a mining marketing campaign in 2020.
In 2023, Linden Gold Alliance bought the Jasper Hills Gold Undertaking, which incorporates the Lord Byron and Fish open-pit mines.
Brightstar acquired Linden Gold in June 2024, fast-tracking approvals and allowing, resulting in the graduation of the Fish underground mine in January 2025.
In the meantime, Brightstar continues its exploration efforts, with ongoing reverse circulation and diamond drilling at Sandstone supporting a pre-feasibility examine as a part of firm’s 100,000m exploration programme.
