ASX-listed Brightstar Resources has executed binding documentation for a $11.5-million revolving stockpile finance facility with Ocean Partners Australia, providing nondilutive, flexible funding to support the company’s ramp-up of gold production at its Laverton Hub in Western Australia.

The funding arrangement, finalised after thorough legal and technical due diligence, is structured as an advance payment agreement and will bolster Brightstar’s working capital position as it delivers ore under an existing ore purchase agreement (OPA) with Genesis Minerals.

Brightstar MD Alex Rovira said the facility would play a key role in advancing the company’s growth ambitions.

The facility allows Brightstar to draw down funds in one or more tranches, with each drawdown to be repaid within six months via deductions from provisional payments received under the Genesis OPA. The financing carries an interest rate of the three-month CME Term SOFR plus 11% a year, accruing monthly. Ocean Partners holds security over Brightstar’s run-of-mine ore stockpiles until the material is sold to Genesis under the OPA. The facility contains no mandatory hedging or gold price participation clauses, allowing Brightstar to retain full exposure to any upside in the gold price.

The funding is aligned with the Genesis OPA, which covers up to 500 000 t of ore from Brightstar’s Laverton Hub to be processed through calendar year 2025 and into the first quarter of 2026.

Brightstar said the facility would support working capital management amid the variable nature of processing campaigns and quarter-end statutory reporting requirements. It would also fund exploration and mining operations across its portfolio.

At the Second Fortune underground mine, 3 002 oz of gold was mined in the first quarter of 2025, with 4 372 oz sold under the OPA during the March quarter, as the operation ramped up following a return to full production. At the Fish underground mine, portal development is under way, with first ore expected in the June quarter and production ramping up to 15 000 t a month from July 2025. The Lord Byron stockpiles, containing about 160 000 t at 0.9 g/t gold, are available for immediate processing.