PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Northern Star Resources reached its production targets in the full year ended June, with the miner selling 1.56-million ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of A$1 759/oz.

This was in line with the target of between 1.56-million and 1.68-million ounces set at an AISC of between A$1 730/oz and A$1 760/oz.

Northern Star on Thursday reported a 9% increase in revenue for the full year ended June, compared with the previous financial year, increasing from A$3.8-billion to A$4.1-billion, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation increased by 10%, from A$1.7-billion to A$1.9-billion.

Net profits after tax increased from A$452-million in the 2022 financial year to A$585-million.

“Northern Star generated a record A$1.22-billion in cash earnings in the past financial year, the result of our focus on safely delivering operational excellence in parallel to adhering to a disciplined approach to investing shareholders’ funds," said MD Stuart Tonkin.

“The full-year result is a credit to our dedicated team, who have worked hard to offset what remains a challenging operating cost environment, particularly in Western Australia. This full-year result also reinforces Northern Star’s strategy to identify growth opportunities within our strongly endowed geological terrains that can deliver superior returns to shareholders.

“Our announcement in June to proceed with the Fimiston mill expansion at Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM), our largest and most significant asset, highlights the organic optionality and upside potential built into our portfolio. The Fimiston mill expansion is in addition to our fully funded, profitable five-year growth strategy, which we continue to diligently execute to position the company’s assets in the first half of the global cost curve,” said Tonkin.

The A$1.5-billion expansion project will increase and modernise KCGM’s processing capacity from the current 13-million tonnes a year to 27-million tonnes a year, with the operation expected to reach steady-state production in 2029.

The expanded project will produce 900 000 oz/y of gold at steady state, with the current mineral and ore reserves supporting a mine life of more than 20 years, with AISC targeted at A$1 425/oz during steady-state production.

Looking ahead at the 2024 financial year, Northern Star is targeting gold sales of between 1.6-million and 1.7-million ounces, at an AISC of between A$1 730/oz and A$1 790/oz.

Gold sold will be weighted towards the second half of the financial because of increased production at Thunderbox as the mill sustainably delivers six-million tonnes a year, higher ore volumes and grade at KCGM, and continuous grade improvement at Pogo. For the September quarter, planned major shutdowns will be carried out across all three production centres.