It’s a sad thing to see when a small junior capital raises itself into a hole of disrepute, and that’s especially the case when it’s got a pretty good hole in the ground.

Enter Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) which on Thursday confirmed it’s set to produce its first ore from the WA-based ‘Fish’ mine in the June quarter.

Underground approvals have been received, the portal will be cut in April, and the company can finally get to gold deposits underneath the Earth, tapping the unsniffed deposits part of an existing open-cut operation.

This would normally be good news – except BTR’s share price jumped 5% to 2cps on a volume of around $220,000 according to a third party service that ports Morningstar data.

News that the company’s first gold pour is set for March 2025 was received well by HotCopper users but some made a good point: the company had 10 billion shares on issue.

It’s now around 11 billion shares on issue. And that’s a big problem for any company, given the sheer amount of dilution that’s taken place. All in all, it makes fat gains less realistic.

So can Brightstar pull off a consolidation? That remains up to the company’s Board. A 20-for-1 plan probably wouldn’t hurt, but then again, this close to production, Brightstar is likely focused more on wheeling and dealing.

Its $228M market cap reflects a decent market tolerance (or patience) for the junior. The fact it has invested in a 160-room camp on top of another 48-room buildout points towards an obvious onward march to production – it’s too late to turn back now.

But until shares on issue look tastier, Brightstar shareholders could need more patience yet.

BTR last traded at 2cps.

Join the discussion: See what HotCopper users are saying about Brightstar and be part of the conversations that move the markets.