PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Northern Star has continued to increase production in the December quarter as progress is made at its Pogo mine, in Alaska.

The ASX-listed miner produced 212 571 oz of gold in the December quarter, up from the 188 175 oz produced in the previous quarter, bringing the full-year-to-date production to 400 746 oz.

Ounces sold during the quarter increased from 184 005 oz to 214 635 oz, and reached 398 640 oz in the full year, while all-in sustaining costs (AISC) declined from A$1 493/oz to A$1 421/oz.

Gold production from the Jundee operation, in Western Australia, reached 80 069 oz in the quarter, while the Kalgoorlie gold operation, also in Western Australia, produced 86 356 oz, and the Pogo mine a further 46 146 oz.

In addition to nearly doubling production at the newly acquired Pogo, Northern Star in the December quarter struck an $800-million deal with Newmont to acquire that company’s 50% stake in the Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM), which owns the Super Pit operation in Western Australia.

Northern Star will joint venture (JV) with fellow-listed Saracen Mineral Holdings to work at the Super Pit, which currently has an estimated reserve of 7.3-million ounces, and has produced an average of 660 000 oz/y at an AISC of around A$1 100/oz over the last five years.

Executive chairperson Bill Beament told shareholders on Wednesday that the December quarter was a pivotal one for the company, further strengthening the key investment qualities of strong financial returns, scale and long-life assets in tier-1 jurisdictions.

“This will go down as a remarkable quarter in the history of Northern Star. We are delighted with the performance of our Australian operations, our strategy at Pogo delivered substantial improvements and we acquired a half-share in one of the most significant gold systems in the world through the KCGM deal.

“We now have four Tier-1 assets in Tier-1 locations delivering well over a million ounces a year, underpinned by long mine lives and generating vast amounts of free cash flow. Moreover, all our assets boast significant potential for ongoing organic growth, which, as we have shown in the past, delivers exceptional financial returns.”

Beament noted that strong progress was being made at KCGM, with the JV parties initiating an extensive review of all aspects of the project.

“It is already clear that the strong cooperative approach adopted by the two companies will enable us to further unlock this exceptional opportunity and create significant value.

“Both companies will also benefit enormously from the complementary skills sets given Saracen’s well-established openpit capability and Northern Star’s extensive underground and large-scale operational expertise.”