Brightstar Resources Nearly Doubles Two Mile Hill Gold to 1.45Moz at $6 Per Ounce
Key Takeaways
- The Two Mile Hill-Shillington Mineral Resource Estimate has increased 98% to 1.45Moz @ 1.8g/t Au, nearly doubling from 731koz at an industry-leading discovery cost of just $6/oz for 0.7Moz of new ounces.
- The Sandstone Gold Project total MRE now stands at 3.6Moz (79Mt @ 1.4g/t Au), a 50% increase from 2.4Moz, with the Brightstar Group portfolio reaching 5.2Moz across its Western Australian assets.
- Indicated resources surged 177% to 526koz @ 1.6g/t Au, directly expanding the resource base eligible to underpin the Sandstone Pre-Feasibility Study targeted for delivery later in 2026.
- The current MRE excludes all results from the ongoing ~3,800m Shirvington Zone diamond drilling program, which has already logged 53 occurrences of visible gold across two holes with assays still pending.
- Contained ounces peak at approximately 5,900oz per vertical metre at ~595m depth — near the base of the current resource — with the tonalite remaining open at depth, east, and west, underpinning the rationale for further extensional drilling.
Two Mile Hill mineral resource nearly doubles to 1.45Moz at Sandstone
Brightstar Resources (ASX: BTR) has delivered a landmark exploration result, with its Two Mile Hill-Shillington Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) increasing 98% to 1.45Moz @ 1.8g/t Au, nearly doubling from the previous 731koz. The update represents one of the most material resource growth milestones in the Sandstone Gold Project’s history, and it was achieved for an industry-leading discovery cost of just $6/oz.
The scale of the September 2026 update is best appreciated against the trajectory: the Sandstone resource grew to 2.9Moz as recently as mid-2026, meaning the project has added more than 700koz in a matter of weeks through the Two Mile Hill-Shillington upgrade alone.
Key headline figures from the September 2026 MRE update:
- Two Mile Hill-Shillington MRE: increased from 731koz to 1.45Moz @ 1.8g/t Au (a 98% increase)
- Indicated resources: upgraded 177% to 526koz @ 1.6g/t Au
- Discovery cost: $6/oz for 0.7Moz of new Mineral Resources added
- Sandstone Gold Project total MRE: now 79Mt @ 1.4g/t Au for 3.6Moz
- Brightstar Group MRE: now 110Mt @ 1.5g/t Au for 5.2Moz
Critically, this update does not include any drilling from the ongoing ~3,800m diamond program targeting the Shirvington Zone at depth. That program has already intersected 53 occurrences of visible gold across two holes, with assays still pending. The resource growth story is not finished.
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What the September 2026 MRE update reveals
Resource table — how the numbers break down
The updated Two Mile Hill-Shillington MRE is broken down across three deposit areas, reported at separate cut-off grades for open pit (0.4g/t Au to 150m vertical depth) and underground (0.73g/t Au below the 370mRL, confined within the tonalite).
| Deposit | Classification | Tonnes (kt) | Grade (g/t Au) | Ounces (koz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two Mile Hill open pit | Indicated | 2,252 | 1.2 | 87 |
| Two Mile Hill open pit | Inferred | 308 | 0.9 | 9 |
| Two Mile Hill open pit | Total | 2,560 | 1.2 | 96 |
| Two Mile Hill underground | Indicated | 6,069 | 1.9 | 362 |
| Two Mile Hill underground | Inferred | 13,620 | 2.1 | 902 |
| Two Mile Hill underground | Total | 19,688 | 2.0 | 1,264 |
| Shillington | Indicated | 2,093 | 1.2 | 77 |
| Shillington | Inferred | 251 | 1.1 | 9 |
| Shillington | Total | 2,343 | 1.1 | 86 |
| Total — Two Mile Hill-Shillington | Indicated | 10,413 | 1.6 | 526 |
| Total — Two Mile Hill-Shillington | Inferred | 14,179 | 2.0 | 920 |
| Total — Two Mile Hill-Shillington | Total | 24,592 | 1.8 | 1,446 |
Note: Open pit resources reported above the 370mRL (~150m vertical depth) at a 0.4g/t Au cut-off. Underground resources reported below the 370mRL, confined within the tonalite, at a 0.73g/t Au cut-off. Some rounding discrepancies may occur. Resources are depleted for historical mining and reported inclusive of Ore Reserves.
The Shirvington Zone — the update not yet included
The current MRE does not incorporate any results from the ongoing ~3,800m diamond drilling program targeting the Shirvington Zone, which extends a further ~250m below this updated resource. Holes TMHDD26003 and TMHDD26004 have each intersected visible gold, with 53 individual occurrences logged in total across the two holes. Assays for both remain pending. Four deep diamond holes are either complete or nearing completion. That pipeline of pending assays is the clearest signal that further resource growth is anticipated.
What is a mineral resource estimate — and why does the Indicated upgrade matter?
Understanding why the 177% increase in Indicated ounces matters requires a brief primer on how resource classification works.
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Inferred vs Indicated — what the classifications mean: An Inferred Mineral Resource is an estimate based on limited geological evidence and sampling. Geological continuity is assumed but not verified. An Indicated Mineral Resource carries higher geological confidence — it is based on closer drill spacing, stronger grade continuity, and more reliable data. In plain terms: Inferred means you have reason to believe the gold is there; Indicated means you have meaningful evidence it is.
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Why Indicated resources are required for PFS-level work: A Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) is an economic assessment of whether a project is viable. Regulatory and industry standards require Indicated (or higher) resources to underpin the economic modelling in a PFS. Inferred ounces are generally considered too speculative to carry economic weight in such studies. By upgrading 526koz to Indicated classification, Brightstar has directly expanded the resource base that can feed into its Sandstone PFS, which is targeted for delivery later in 2026.
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What $6/oz discovery cost signals: The industry average cost to discover a new gold ounce has risen materially over the past decade. Adding 0.7Moz at a discovery cost of $6/oz points to a highly capital-efficient drilling programme that encountered mineralisation well above expectation.
The Indicated upgrade de-risks the resource base and directly supports the commercial pathway — this is not just exploration success, it is a step toward economic conversion.
Drilling results and the path to further resource growth
Key intercepts confirm high-grade continuity at depth
The MRE update incorporates assay results from RC drill holes with diamond tails TMHRCD26021 and TMHRCD26022. The broad, unconstrained intercepts across the tonalite confirm the scale of mineralisation:
- TMHRCD26021: 112.6m @ 1.02g/t Au from 246.9m (unconstrained)
- TMHRCD26021: 43.2m @ 1.50g/t Au from 248.1m, including 1m @ 16.9g/t Au from 289m
- TMHRCD26022: 172.5m @ 1.00g/t Au from 301.5m (unconstrained)
- TMHRCD26022: 19.6m @ 2.42g/t Au from 421m, including 0.4m @ 55.2g/t Au from 429.3m
The unconstrained widths — over 112m and 172m respectively — reflect the significant widening of the tonalite at depth identified during 2026 drilling. That widening is central to why the resource has grown so substantially from a relatively focused drilling programme.
The significance of that widening tonalite becomes clearer in context: the 305m gold intercept at Two Mile Hill documented earlier in 2026 was the first signal that the deposit was extending well beyond its previously modelled boundaries, with the drill hole ending in mineralisation before reaching the ore boundary.
Contained ounces peak at depth — signalling further upside
An ounces-per-vertical-metre analysis of the Two Mile Hill-Shillington deposit (Figure 3 in the announcement) shows that contained ounces increase with depth, peaking at approximately ~5,900oz per vertical metre at around 595m below surface. This peak sits near the base of the current MRE, within the widened tonalite intersected by the 2026 drilling. The tonalite remains open at depth, east, and west, which underpins the high-conviction rationale for the Shirvington Zone deep drilling program extending a further ~250m below the current resource boundary.
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Director’s perspective and what comes next
Alex Rovira, Managing Director
“The latest MRE update for Two Mile Hill-Shillington is truly a landmark moment for the Sandstone Project…”
Rovira added that the new update will now be incorporated into Brightstar’s ongoing underground mining studies at Two Mile Hill, and subsequently the Sandstone PFS due for delivery later this year.
The near-term catalyst pipeline is substantial:
- Pending assay results from TMHDD26003 and TMHDD26004, which have together logged 53 occurrences of visible gold
- A further MRE update expected as the Shirvington Zone program (~3,800m) is completed
- Integration of the new MRE into the Sandstone PFS, targeted for delivery later in 2026
- Regional exploration advancing multiple Two Mile Hill analogues toward drilling programmes
- Goldfields Hub processing plant construction underway, with gold production targeting commencement in the June quarter of CY27
Brightstar has grown the Sandstone Project MRE by 50% through methodical infill and extensional drilling, expanding from 2.4Moz to 3.6Moz. With the Brightstar Group now hosting 5.2Moz across its Western Australian portfolio and multiple near-term catalysts converging, the Company is positioning itself as an emerging mid-tier gold producer with material organic growth still ahead.
Ready to Explore the Full Scale of Brightstar’s 5.2Moz Gold Portfolio?
Brightstar Resources (ASX: BTR) has nearly doubled the Two Mile Hill-Shillington Mineral Resource to 1.45Moz at a remarkable discovery cost of just $6/oz, with the Sandstone Gold Project now hosting 3.6Moz and a Sandstone PFS on the horizon. Critically, pending assays from 53 occurrences of visible gold in the Shirvington Zone deep drilling programme mean the resource growth story is far from over.
To track the next phase of drilling results, MRE updates, and the path toward gold production, explore Brightstar Resources on Discovery Alert for the latest project developments and investment insights.