The scheme will see Northern Star acquire all Saracen shares, as 98.18 per cent of Saracen shareholders voted in favour of the proposed merger.

Saracen is now seeking approval from the Supreme Court of Western Australia for the scheme, with a hearing scheduled on February 2.

Saracen managing director Raleigh Finlayson thanked the company’s shareholders were “virtually unanimous” in their support for the scheme.

“Our shareholders have been virtually unanimous in their support for our merger with Northern Star, he said.

“I would like to thank them for their huge vote of confidence in our plan to create a world-scale gold miner which will benefit from extensive synergies, economies of scale, outstanding free cash flow and one of the strongest growth profiles in the global gold mining industry.”

Finlayson said the merger will set a production target of two million ounces of gold per year.

“We are looking forward to implementing our strategy, which will see us target annual production of two million ounces a year exclusively in tier 1 locations,” he said.

The merger will become effective from February 3 if the scheme receives court approval.

Saracen stated the merger will unlock synergies and provide a net present value between $1.5-$2 billion, creating a new gold producer in the global top 10.