Brightstar Resources has received the green light to bring its Lord Byron open pit mine into production within its Laverton Hub, securing final approvals that set the project on track for gold output in the second half of 2026.
The Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration (DMPE) has signed off on both the mining proposal and mine closure plan, declaring Lord Byron “mine ready”.
The approvals follow the native vegetation clearing permit granted in July 2025, closing out the environmental permitting process.
“It is great to see full mining approvals received for the open pit development of the Lord Byron mine, which is pivotal to accelerating gold production growth in our Laverton Hub,” Brightstar managing director Alex Rovira said.
“Importantly, the Lord Byron open pit is located less than 10km from our operational Fish underground mine, with surface infrastructure items already in place as a result of the construction of Fish, resulting in streamlined, low capex (capital expenditure) development.”
The open pit’s development is timed to coincide with the construction of Brightstar’s new 1-million-tonne-per-annum carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing plant at Laverton, which is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2026.
“This allows Brightstar to rapidly commence development of the Lord Byron open pit to coincide with our proposed mill construction, due to commence in the first half the 2026 calendar year,” Rovira said.
“Recent exploration efforts at Lord Byron point to material upside to the current mineral resource and potential for additions to the current mine plan.
“Drill hole LBRC25001 returned a spectacular result of 32m at 7.16 grams per tonne (g/t) gold which was directly below the bottom of the proposed Lord Byron south open pit.”
Stage 1 of Lord Byron includes a single open pit extending 1km in strike and 130m deep, containing 1.6 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.4g/t for 71,000 ounces.
Brightstar is now pushing ahead with financing, engineering, and permitting for the Laverton processing plant, positioning the company to stockpile ore and kickstart production in late 2026.
AIMEX 2025 kicks off this week in Adelaide. Register for the free event here.
AIMEX 2025 kicks off this week in Adelaide. Register for the free event here.
AIMEX 2025 kicks off this week in Adelaide. Register for the free event here.
AIMEX 2025 kicks off this week in Adelaide. Register for the free event here.
