Northern Star Resources Limited (ASX: NST) has announced its Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves update for the 12 months ended 31 March 2024. The group Ore Reserves inventory provides the foundation for Northern Star’s profitable organic growth strategy.
Northern Star is the largest gold producer with a primary listing on the ASX. Its production centres are Kalgoorlie and Yandal in Western Australia and Pogo in Alaska, US.
Key points
- Group Mineral Resources increase to 61.3Moz, up 3.9Moz, after mining depletion, reflecting:
- Increase in Measured, Indicated and Inferred from ongoing exploration success
- Growth across Australian production centres to underpin organic growth optionality
- At Kalgoorlie, KCGM delivered a 12% increase to 31.6Moz, driven by:
- Open Pit Resources to 18.8Moz, up 2.0Moz
- Underground Resources to 9.6Moz, up 0.9Moz, at Fimiston Underground and Mt Charlotte
- At Yandal, mineralisation footprint extends at Bannockburn, Griffin and Ramone
- At Pogo, Resource grade of 10.1g/t continues to present operational optionality
- Group Ore Reserves increase to 20.9Moz, up 0.7Moz, after mining depletion:
- Maiden Reserve at Fimiston Underground of 0.8Moz at 2.2g/t demonstrates huge underground potential at KCGM
- Maiden Reserve at Red Hill of 0.6Moz, 3.5km from Kanowna Belle processing plant
- Maiden Reserve at Griffin enhancing Jundee’s underground mining footprint to the north
- Gold price and cost assumptions revised to reflect current macro environment
Commenting on the Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves update, Northern Star managing director Stuart Tonkin said:
“Our geology team has made excellent progress to advance operational, development and discovery projects that provide long-term organic growth optionality across our three production centres – Kalgoorlie, Yandal and Pogo.
“The 3.9Moz increase in Group Mineral Resources is even more impressive when considering the significant mining depletion that has occurred over the past year as we ramp up production in line with our profitable organic growth strategy.
“KCGM continues to impress, with an outstanding 3.3Moz added to the Mineral Resources and 1.0Moz to Ore Reserves. These additional high-margin ounces are close to existing mine infrastructure and further strengthen the economics of our strategy to boost production to a sustainable 900kozpa from FY29.
“Our exploration program remains a highly attractive approach to value creation, adding extra ounces at a cost of just A$31/oz, to support our purpose to deliver superior shareholder returns.”
