Brightstar wins key approvals for Lord Byron at Laverton
ASX-listed Brightstar Resources has secured approvals from Western Australia’s Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration for its Lord Byron openpit, clearing the way for the project to start production in the second half of 2026.
The approvals for the Mining Proposal and Mine Closure Plan mean the project is now “mine ready", the company said in a statement on Monday. Lord Byron is located less than 10 km by road from Brightstar’s operational Fish underground mine and within 60 km of the proposed one-million-ton-a-year processing plant at Laverton.
“It is great to see full mining approvals received for the openpit development of the Lord Byron mine, which is pivotal to accelerating gold production growth in our Laverton Hub,” MD Alex Rovira said. He added that existing infrastructure at Fish would help streamline development at Lord Byron.
Stage 1 of the Lord Byron mine will target a single pit containing 1.6-million tonnes at 1.4 g/t for about 71 000 oz of gold. Brightstar said recent drilling highlighted potential for resource expansion, including an intercept of 32 m grading 7.16 g/t gold below the proposed pit shell.
The project has a long operating history, having previously been mined by Crescent Gold, Focus Minerals, and most recently by Linden Gold Alliance before Brightstar acquired the asset in 2024. Brightstar has since restarted mining at Fish and fast-tracked approvals across the Laverton hub.
The company is aiming to start construction of its Laverton processing plant in early 2026, with mining at Lord Byron to commence later that year in order to build up stockpiles ahead of commissioning.
In parallel, Brightstar is advancing a A$100-million exploration programme across its portfolio, with drilling underway at Sandstone, Second Fortune and Fish. Results from ongoing campaigns will feed into feasibility studies and could add upside to future production.
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