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- Northern Star Resources (NST) sold 386,160 ounces of gold over the September quarter at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1594 per ounce
- Its Kalgoorlie operations contributed 232,300 ounces of gold to the amount sold, with the Pogo operation in Alaska having more than three weeks’ downtime for major works
- In August, NST completed the sale of the Kundana assets to Evolution Mining (EVN) for $400 million as part of its strategic focus on managing an active portfolio
- The ASX 200-lister ended the quarter with cash and bullion of more than $750 million after returning $110 million in dividends to shareholders
- NST shares are up 0.43 per cent to trade at $9.45 at 1:38 pm AEDT
Northern Star Resources (NST) has recapped its September quarter, announcing it sold 386,160 ounces of gold for the period.
The gold, which was sold at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1594 per ounce, was produced from across the company’s Kalgoorlie and Yandal operations in Western Australia and its Pogo operations in Alaska.
The Kalgoorlie production centre comprises the KCGM, Carosue Dam and Kalgoorlie operations.
A total of 232,300 ounces were sold from Kalgoorlie at an AISC of $1533 per ounce. Net operating cashflow was $155 million after net growth capital of $57 million.
The ASX 200-lister increased underground mined tonnes by 17 per cent quarter-on-quarter. This was offset by lower processing throughput due to a planned five-day plant shutdown.
The KCGM expansion feasibility study continued and a market update is expected in the June 2022 quarter.
The Yandal Production Centre, which comprises the Jundee and Thunderbox operations, sold 109,800 ounces of gold at an AISC of $1345 per ounce with net mine cashflow coming in at $62 million after net growth capital of $35 million.
Pogo contributed the least to total gold sold with 44,000 ounces sold at an AISC of US$1751 (A$2359) per ounce.
During the quarter, the Alaskan operation undertook tie-in and commissioning works on the processing plant upgrade to improve throughput capacity from one million to 1.3 million tonnes per annum.
The company also completed other major works which resulted in a total downtime of 24 days which impacted the throughput and quarterly gold production. Positively however, the throughput is increasing in line with expectations and mill availability has returned to normal levels.
NST also completed the sale of the Kundana assets to Evolution Mining (EVN) for $400 million as part of its strategic focus on managing an active portfolio.
In terms of finance, Northern Star ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $704 million and total cash and bullion of more than $750 million at the end of September after returning $110 million in dividends to shareholders.
Overall Managing Director Stuart Tonkin was pleased with the quarter’s results.
“This is a solid start to the new financial year and puts us on track to meet our FY22 guidance,” Mr Tonkin said. “At the same time, we made strong progress on our development projects in line with our strategy to be a two million ounce a year producer by FY26.”
The company’s FY22 guidance of 1.55 to 1.65 million ounces at an AISC of $1475 to $1575 per ounce remains unchanged.
NST shares were up 0.43 per cent to trade at $9.45 at 1:38 pm AEDT.
