ASX-listed Brightstar Resources has doubled its Two Mile Hill-Shillington mineral resource estimate (MRE) to 1.45-million ounces, with indicated resources having increased in particular by 177% to 526 000 oz.

The company previously reported a 731 000 oz mineral resource for Two Mile Hill-Shillington, which marks an increase of 98%.

The Two Mile Hill deposit is a key underground and intrusive gold deposit that is part of the Sandstone gold project, in Western Australia.

Having grown the Sandstone project's mineral resource by 50% to 3.6-million ounces (1.5-million ounces in the indicated category) in recent months, Brightstar's groupwide mineral resources stand at 110-million tonnes grading 1.5 g/t gold, for 5.2-million contained ounces.

More mineral resource updates are expected as additional drilling is incorporated, including from the ongoing 3 800 m programme targeting the Shirvington zone at depth. The company also plans to undertake regional exploration targeting new discoveries, with multiple compelling Two Mile Hill analogues being advanced for drilling.

Brightstar MD Alex Rovira says the latest MRE update for Two Mile Hill-Shillington is a landmark moment for the Sandstone project. This is the first update to include areas of the newly identified lateral extensions to the host tonalite at depth. The incorporation of this much wider zone has resulted in a doubling of the total resource since drilling started there in April, and has been achieved for a low discovery cost of $6/oz.

"Crucially, this update still does not include the recent drilling deeper into the Shirvington zone, that identified numerous instances of visible gold logged throughout the drill holes. This ongoing drilling programme extends the depth testing of Shirvington a further 250 m below this updated MRE, so we look forward to sharing the results as they are received.

"The new update will now be incorporated into Brightstar’s ongoing underground mining studies at Two Mile Hill, and subsequently the Sandstone prefeasibility study due for delivery later this year," Rovira concludes.