Morning, everybody. Brightstar Resources, we are a West Australian existing gold producer, developer, and explorer. It has been a very busy month for our business. There have been a number of key developments that really shaped the way this business is going to be moving forward. The first one was the release of our Definitive Feasibility Study in late June for our Menzies and Laverton projects. Recently, as of Monday this week, we announced the acquisition of Aurumin Limited, an ASX-listed junior gold explorer, as well as a $50 million capital raising to advance our business. Pro Forma, or as a kind of post-transaction perspective, Brightstar's got nearly 4 million ounces of gold on granted mining leases in Western Australia. We have two existing underground operating mines south of Laverton, being the Second Fortune and Fish Mines, where my laser is.
Those apparently are producing around about 40,000 ounces per annum, and that is processed through the Mount Morgans Mill owned by Genesis Minerals Limited under an ore purchase agreement. We are an existing producer with two underground mines. However, we are also a developer and a large-scale explorer. In our portfolio, we do have a number of assets that are near-term production opportunities, as well as a very large, I suppose, exploration feasibility study stage asset in the Sandstone project area. For us, the Sandstone project really does represent the flagship asset in this business. From a Pro Forma perspective, post the Aurumin transaction completing, we'll have nearly 2.5 million ounces in Sandstone in a single development opportunity. For our business, formally announced as it's the largest resource base of any explorer or developer, it's not a mid-tier producer.
We do have a fantastic asset base to build this company and this business moving forward. In terms of the definitive feasibility study that came out a number of weeks ago, it did focus only on our Menzies and Laverton operations. What the study did show was the production of around about 70,000 ounces per annum for five years. In terms of that cash flow, that produces over $460 million of free cash over that five-year life of mine. What we're able to do with that cash flow when it's in production is to advance our Sandstone assets towards its own standalone production. We have an objective of the business of being a + 200,000 ounce producer per annum by the end of the decade, so 2029-2030.
That production chart there on the right-hand side shows the way we can stack up our Menzies and Laverton production and ultimately our Sandstone development in a number of years' time to reach that objective. That in and of itself is a genuine mid-tier status, I suppose, business where we do seek to replicate the success of the Ramelius Resources Limited and the Westgold Resources Limited and the Genesis Minerals Limited of the world. That's certainly our aspiration as a business. In terms of the economics of the DFS that we put out, in terms of economics, an NPV of $316 million and an IRR of 73%, a very fundable project, great cash flows. In terms of peak production, peak working capital, we have about $120 million CapEx requirements.
We see that being very fundable, both with debt and equity, and we kicked off a debt financing approach a number of months ago now, which is getting great reception with the commercial conventional banks, as well as a number of non-bank lenders. We have a fundable project, we have existing cash flows, and we have a genuine Tier 1 scale growth asset in the business in Sandstone. In terms of the strategic acquisition of Aurumin , this is a very material development for our business. Aurumin , and I'll touch on it in a few slides' time, really is very synergistic with our existing Sandstone assets, brings in an additional million ounces of resources, but also importantly, the processing plant site, permits, approvals, and a really de-risked approach for us from a development perspective.
Just looking at the DFS outcomes a little bit deeper in terms of where we see potential cash flows based on a scenario of gold prices here, more or less at current spot, these projects make over $100 million free cash a year. Very robust cash flows. In terms of NPV on pre-production capital, over 2.5x , so every dollar we spend on these assets, we can produce $2.5 back out. That is a fantastic return. Ultimately, that capital then gets recycled throughout our business towards Sandstone and other asset opportunities. The transaction with Aurumin , which was announced on Monday, for us is an important development for our Sandstone asset. It does give us a streamlined, fast-track approach to development. It provides significant capital savings. That infrastructure, those permits, those licenses, everything that's in place is a material benefit for our business.
This is one of those transactions where there truly are a lot of synergies for both Aurumin and Brightstar Resources shareholders. Importantly, within Sandstone itself, we'll have nearly 2.5 million ounces of gold JORC Resources on granted mining leases in a scenario where we can be looking at developing these assets within 24 months. A near-term, very substantial development stage opportunity. We did a recent $50 million capital raising earlier this week, so we've got a great balance sheet and we've got ongoing cash flows from our existing operations. We are well funded to take these projects through development, through into operations. We've got over 100,000 m of drilling we're doing over the next 12 months. The exploration budget's $24 million.
We have substantial discoveries and growth to make across our portfolio, and we are really excited about the opportunity that we can generate organically with the drill bit over the next 12 months. The DFS itself, look, there's a lot of content and information both in this presentation and other presentations we've released, so certainly at your time and at your leisure, go through those documents because there's a lot of information. In terms of what we're looking at here, averaging 70,000 ounces of production over five years, peaking at just over 90,000 ounces. For us, this is very much a stage one approach to where we see the operations.
We didn't feel the need that we wanted to drill out a 10-year mine life because these assets are fundable and we've, as a business, made the decision where we want to get these projects into production and into cash flows. We've got an initial five-year life of mine. We are very confident that this will extend. This is based on pretty conservative ore reserves in terms of the open pits. It underpins that production profile. As I mentioned, in terms of peak funding requirement, $120 million, a very fundable amount. We are looking that that peak working capital requirement, an actual drawdown, occurs not until March of 2027. Eighteen months away from now is when that peak funding is required.
We've got a long period of time here where we can fund this business optimally and ultimately get these projects into production, into cash flow, and then redeploy that capital across the business. In terms of from a timetable perspective, we are a very busy business. We do have, you know, we're kind of a little bit of everything for everyone. We're an existing producer. We're a large-scale explorer. I think we're probably at the largest exploration budget of anyone that's not a mid-tier on the ASX and also a developer. From a development perspective, we see making FID at our Menzies and Laverton projects over the next six months and the sequential development of those assets. What that enables us to do is to stagger and sequence the capital requirements. We can manage our risk profile and ultimately we can manage our internal resourcing too.
The intent being is that we will go be mining at Menzies within six months and then mining in Laverton about 12 months from now, actually mid-next year. We are looking at building a brand new one million-ton per annum mill in Laverton. Ultimately, we see that construction process taking 12 months and all of next calendar year. Come the start of 2027 calendar year, we will have production from Menzies and through our own mill in Laverton. With our Sandstone project, we've got, as I mentioned, a large exploration budget and feasibility study budget for that asset. We are looking at having a PFS completed for that project early next year. Ultimately, we believe that we can be making FID on that asset within two years from now with substantial drill outs and feasibility studies between now and then.
A lot of work across the multiple project areas and ultimately what's going to underpin a very long life asset base across the business. Just looking now into the Sandstone project area, the gold tenements, you can see there is existing Brightstar projects. We've got 1.5 million ounces in JORC resources in our current projects in Sandstone and we're acquiring the blue tenements there, being Aurumin Limited. Importantly, as I mentioned, this does, it's not just the ounces we're buying, it's also the infrastructure and the license and the permits, which delivers a significantly de-risked development for our existing assets. Very much a synergistic transaction. We really like the Sandstone district for what it presents for two key reasons. One is on a district scale perspective. Within that 100 km radius around Sandstone, there's not one operating mine. There's no mid-tiers, there's no majors.
Yet in that same 100 km radius, there's about 7 million ounces of gold controlled by ASX juniors and private companies. Sandstone really does represent a fragmented district, significant in mineral endowment, with no operating mines. Certainly, Brightstar and Rocks are seeking to change that, but we really like the opportunity for, I suppose, large-scale development opportunities. Specifically within our own tenure, the corporate history of these projects has meant there's a significant exploration upside. These projects were last mined in 2005 by Troy Resources, and there's been very limited systematic exploration since then. The last time this was mined, the gold price was $500 per ounce. Now it's clearly more than $5,000. The gold price is 10x higher than when this was last mined, and you've had a period of 20 years with very limited exploration.
We've been very excited and very vocal about the opportunity here organically with the drill bit and also inorganically. Over the three M&A transactions over the last 12 months, we've delivered a resource base here of just under 2.5 million ounces. That's where we see Sandstone being a very material Tier 1 stage development asset, which really is unparalleled in the eastern goldfields of Western Australia. There's definitely an asset of scale. What we really like about our opportunity at Sandstone is the ability that we can fund that from our cash flows, from our near-term operations. Menzies and Laverton, when we go into production later this year and early next year, those assets and the cash flow that produces the $100 million per annum, that capital gets redeployed in our business to fund Sandstone.
It's very rare to have an asset base in a junior company like Brightstar where you've got genuine Tier 1 scale opportunity in Sandstone, where you can fund the development of that asset with organic cash flows. That's why we're very excited about developing Menzies and Laverton to then in turn fund Sandstone. Just looking at within that portfolio, you can see that map there on the bottom left-hand side, the Aurumin resources, just under a million ounces of resources, are entirely encapsulated within our existing projects. They are completely contiguous. It's the same geological terrain. These assets were all under the same umbrella 20 years ago. We are just reuniting these projects to their former glory. What we really like about the Aurumin acquisition is the fact that it does come with the existing processing plant site.
It gives us a significantly de-risked approach to ultimately developing not only our assets, but also the Aurumin assets as well. Ultimately, we think that this probably represents a 3 million-5 million ton per annum processing throughput in terms of the mill that we will seek to build out here. Just in terms of pure mathematical approach to what does that production profile look like, you can start to see where we think the production scale lands. 130,000, 140,000 ounces per annum kind of production range. That is a very substantial asset. It's probably the largest production asset production profile of any development stage asset on the ASX. This is something that we're really excited about. It is the flagship asset in our business. We've got an over $20 million exploration budget for the next 12 months. About 75% of that is at Sandstone.
Just to give you context to where we see scale and growth, 75% of our discretionary spend for growth is going towards Sandstone, with 25% going across the balance of the portfolio. We have been a very active business in the last two years from an M&A perspective. We are big believers that there are opportunities out there we can consolidate. You can build a business of scale where you are relevant to not only the institutional landscape, but you are relevant to the mid-tier sector. Over five or six M&A transactions, we've acquired pretty much nearly 3.5 million ounces of gold at an average acquisition price of $45 per ounce. All those ounces are on mining leases. We are big, but a key lens that we look at through these opportunities are these assets are genuinely going to be mined. We're not land banking opportunities.
We're not buying stuff to talk about it. We have a team of mine builders where we will be building these opportunities. Everything that we've done has been very purposeful. We've got these assets in the business because it supports a business of scale. That's a big thing for Brightstar is to be something that's got that scale and that relevance in the mid-tier sector. You can see where our historical acquisitions sit. The Aurumin transaction, for example, being done just over $60 per ounce. We feel that given the infrastructure that comes with the camp, the processing plant site, all the permits, the bore field, the tailings dam, all that infrastructure that comes with really underwrites that acquisition cost for us. We're really excited about the opportunity of bringing that asset within our company.
In terms of where we sit, this is all West Australian gold developers and explorers. We really are unparalleled in terms of resource scale. Nearly 4 million ounces Pro Forma of resources. It's the largest resource base of any explorer or developer on the ASX. What that does mean for us is that gives us a really large asset base to monetize and commercialize. We've got a lot of opportunities with our asset base. We are certainly focused on delivering and, I suppose, de-risking through this development cycle, but then just getting these projects into production and ultimately trying to monetize the existing resource base that we've got. Just quickly, in terms of our existing asset base, this is resuming into our Laverton project portfolio, just about 900,000 ounces of resources in Laverton. We've got two existing underground mines here, at Second Fortune and the Fish Mine.
They are currently being processed through Mt Morgans. Ultimately, the intent though is once we build our mill in Laverton to process all that through the existing processing plant we do have, where we're seeking to expand and upgrade that to a 1 million ton printing plant. More or less a hub and spoke model through Laverton. All these projects are all on granted mining leases. Previously mined, they're all well understood. Ultimately, what we're looking to do is produce around about 50,000 ounces per annum out of this project area. From a portfolio approach, stacking that production on top with the Menzies production as well. Menzies itself is 130 km north of Kalgoorlie. We are looking at putting this project into production early next year.
We're currently working with Paddington towards developing or delivering, sorry, a binding or purchase agreement where we could be producing gold from Menzies processed through Paddington by early next year. Menzies itself produces around about 40,000 ounces per annum. Again, when you stack that up on top of Laverton, you're producing that 90,000 ounce target run rate across the two project areas. Importantly for Menzies is it's a very low capital approach to getting this asset into production, circa $14 million of pre-production capital. That asset makes over $140 million over three years. For us, it's a great return on our investment. It's a great contributor to the portfolio and is very much de-risked from a development perspective. Just lastly, this has been a very kind of busy 12 to 24 months for our business. Moving forward, we are very focused on operational delivery across our assets.
We've developed one underground mine from scratch in the last six months. We've got an existing asset that's in production, and ultimately we're looking to developing both Menzies and Laverton. In two years' time, trying to make FID out of Sandstone. We are a very unique business. You know, we are an existing producer, we're a developer and an explorer, and we're excited about the opportunity that's ahead of us in our portfolio in the eastern goldfields. Thank you very much.