Saturn Metals (ASX:STN), Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) and Barton Gold (ASX:BGD): Mining Lease, Deep Drilling and a 370koz Resource Update

Sonal Goyal

28 October 2026 01:09 PM AEDT

Saturn Metals (ASX:STN), Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) and Barton Gold (ASX:BGD): Mining Lease, Deep Drilling and a 370koz Resource Update

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Key Highlights

Saturn Metals holds $110.7 million in cash and was granted the 11,700-hectare Mining Lease M31/496 covering the 2.83Moz Apollo Hill resource.
Brightstar Resources began a seven-hole, 6,500m diamond program beneath the 1.45Moz Two Mile Hill-Shillington resource.
Barton Gold raised its Challenger resource to 370koz and its underground resource to 230koz @ 3.65g/t Au.
Each of the three Australian gold companies reported updates on 28 October 2026.

Saturn Metals Limited (ASX:STN), Brightstar Resources Limited (ASX:BTR) and Barton Gold Holdings Limited (ASX:BGD) each issued gold project updates on 28 October 2026. Saturn reported on a quarter in which Apollo Hill received its mining lease and a $110.7 million cash balance, Brightstar confirmed that deep drilling had started at Two Mile Hill, and Barton released new resource estimates for its Challenger and Tarcoola projects in South Australia.

Saturn Metals: Lease Granted and Cash at $110.7 Million

Saturn Metals closed the September 2026 quarter with Mining Lease M31/496 granted over its Apollo Hill Gold Project in Western Australia. The 11,700-hectare lease covers the 2.83Moz resource of 174Mt @ 0.51g/t Au. On 23 September the company filed its Section 38 Environmental Review Document with the state Environmental Protection Authority, and its Definitive Feasibility Study is scheduled for the December quarter.

A $100 million placement and a $21.28 million Share Purchase Plan, both priced at $0.40 per share, lifted cash from $40.4 million to $110.7 million. Drilling showed gold-bearing structures running up to 1km north of the resource, with a best result of 5m @ 11.26g/t Au from 49m. Three exploration licences were also granted at the Aquarius Gold Prospect, about 30km south-east of Apollo Hill. Martin Alciaturi joined the board as a Non-Executive Director from 12 October, and the company holds 2,029.64km2 of contiguous tenure in Western Australia.

Brightstar Resources: Deep Drilling at Two Mile Hill

Brightstar has started the first of two diamond rigs on a program of seven holes totalling about 6,500m at the Two Mile Hill-Shillington deposit, part of the 3.6Moz Sandstone Gold Project. The deposit holds a resource of 24.6Mt @ 1.8g/t Au for 1.45Moz. The program targets the Shirvington Zone, a widened section of mineralised tonalite lying beneath that resource. One of the seven holes is a re-entry of TMHRCD26020, which originally returned 305.4m @ 1.82g/t Au from 351.9m. Planned depths for the six new holes run from 1,000m to 1,100m.

Hole TMHDD26003 returned 305m @ 1.33g/t Au from 584m, including 173m @ 1.42g/t Au from 716m, and the tonalite has now been shown to be more than 400m wide. Assays for TMHDD26004, TMHDD26005 and TMHDD26006 are due in November, and all results are to feed an updated Two Mile Hill resource this quarter alongside the Sandstone Pre-Feasibility Study. Managing Director Alex Rovira said the September resource showed contained ounces per vertical metre rising because of the breadth of the Shirvington Zone at depth.

Barton Gold: Challenger Underground Resource Doubles

Barton's updated Challenger estimate stands at 11.2Mt @ 1.03g/t Au for 370koz, compared with 313koz in September 2025. The underground resource more than doubled to 230koz at 3.65g/t Au, and the model now includes a new Challenger 3 deposit. Tarcoola was revised to 29koz Au, with about 72 per cent now classified as Indicated. The estimate draws on 9,387m of new reverse circulation and diamond drilling, and open pit material was remodelled inside optimised shells at a base gold price of A$5,000 per ounce.

Open-pittable Hub 1 resources total 169koz, including 56koz in the first tailings storage facility. A Definitive Feasibility Study on restarting operations through the Central Gawler Mill is targeted for the first quarter of calendar 2027, and group gold resources now total 2.29Moz. The Challenger mine produced more than 1 million ounces of gold between 2002 and 2018.

Three Updates, Three Different Stages

Saturn reported tenure, permitting and funding milestones at a deposit of 2.83Moz, Brightstar began drilling beneath a 1.45Moz resource, and Barton restated a Challenger estimate that now totals 370koz. Together the announcements describe a granted mining lease, two drill rigs mobilising and a resource model that moved from 313koz to 370koz, all within Western Australia and South Australia.

FAQs

Q: What did Saturn Metals report for the September 2026 quarter?

A: Saturn was granted Mining Lease M31/496, lodged its Section 38 Environmental Review Document and ended the quarter with $110.7 million in cash.

Q: How large is Brightstar's new drilling program?

A: It comprises seven deep diamond holes for about 6,500m at Two Mile Hill-Shillington, using two rigs.

Q: What is Barton Gold's updated Challenger resource?

A: The resource is 11.2Mt @ 1.03g/t Au for 370koz, including an underground resource of 230koz at 3.65g/t Au.

Q: Which of the three companies reported a feasibility study timetable?

A: Saturn expects its Apollo Hill study in the December quarter, while Barton is targeting its Challenger study for the first quarter of calendar 2027.

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