Gold Mining

Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has disclosed a stake of more than 4% in Australia's largest gold miner Northern Star Resources, valued at over A$1-billion, and is calling for a strategic review that would consider a sale of the company. Elliott cites Northern Star's underperformance versus peers, repeated operational missteps, seven outlook misses in four years and inadequate disclosures, and describes a clear path forward focused on conducting a strategic review, an external CEO search and operational improvements. Northern Star's share price rallied 13.7% on June 2 following the disclosure, paring prior losses of more than 25% this year, and the company says it welcomes constructive dialogue with Elliott and is already conducting an international search for a new CEO after MD Stuart Tonkin announced his resignation effective in the first quarter of 2027. Elliott says first-round bids in a strategic review could come as soon as July, with a transaction announced as soon as December, and describes Northern Star's valuation as materially understating the quality of its underlying assets, which would be a great fit for some of the world's biggest listed gold mining companies.

South Africa's mining industry continues to demonstrate resilience despite global economic pressures, with mining gross value add reaching R477-billion in 2025, contributing an estimated 6.3% to the country's GDP, while mining royalties to the fiscus totalled R11.8-billion in 2025, an increase of 11% from the R10.6-billion recorded in 2024, and mining export revenue from primary minerals reached R649-billion, increasing from R586-billion in 2024, Mineral Resources and Petroleum Minister Gwede Mantashe reported to Parliament on June 3. The phased rollout of the new online mining licensing system – the cadastre – is progressing steadily, with Western Cape applications being received and processed online, and implementation is now progressing to other regions, while the Mineral Resources Development Bill is being refined to incorporate stakeholder inputs and is expected to be submitted to Cabinet for approval ahead of being introduced to Parliament during the three months ending September 30.

Harmony Gold Mining Company expects copper to account for 40% of its production within the next decade as the company builds a diversified portfolio designed to capitalise on growing demand for the red metal, CEO Beyers Nel says in the fifth and final episode of Creamer Media's IN FOCUS copper series. Nel explains that the company's move into copper is driven by value considerations and the complementary nature of copper and gold through commodity cycles, with gold serving as a store of value in times of economic uncertainty, whereas copper is a growth lever and provides leverage to times of economic strength, and stresses that the company's expansion into copper does not represent a change in identity, but rather a strategic diversification of its commodity exposure.

Several Canadian gold developers are advancing major projects, with TSX-listed Troilus Mining Corporation securing approval from Québec authorities for a planned 70 MW power allocation to support the development and operation of the copper/gold Troilus project, which is currently the largest copper project in the permitting stage in Québec and one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in Canada, and is positioned to produce 303 000 gold-equivalent ounces a year over a 22-year mine life. TSX- and NYSE-listed Seabridge Gold has successfully closed the spin-out of its Courageous Lake gold project into a newly listed entity, Valor Gold Corporation, after receiving approval from the Supreme Court of British Columbia, with Courageous Lake hosting measured and indicated resources of 11-million ounces of gold, at an average grade of 2.36 g/t, plus a further 3.3-million ounces in the inferred category, positioning Courageous Lake as one of the highest-grade openpit gold projects in Canada.

ASX-listed Saturn Metals has increased the measured, indicated and inferred gold resource of the Apollo Hill project, in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, by more than 590 000 oz to 2.83-million ounces, delivering a 26% overall growth in the mineral resource estimate and reinforcing Apollo Hill as one of the largest undeveloped, single openpit gold resources in Australia, with the updated mineral resource estimate to underpin the Apollo Hill definitive feasibility study and form the basis for an updated ore reserve, both of which are targeted for release later this year. ASX-listed Challenger has poured its first gold bar from the Hualilán project in Argentina under a toll milling agreement with fellow-listed Austral Gold's Caspaso Argentina Mining business, with the initial pour producing about 200 kg of doré estimated to contain 500 oz of gold and 6 000 oz of silver from about 15 000 t of ore, marking the company's formal transition from explorer to producer.