Northern Star grows Super Pit potential

Following its merger with Saracen Mineral Holdings, the company has flagged significant headway at the Super Pit.

Northern Star’s year-to-date ore volumes at the Super Pit have outperformed its expectations, delivering 48 per cent more tonnes of ore (1.8 million tonnes) and 32 per cent more ounces of gold (62,344 ounces) in the nine months ended March 31, 2021.

The company has been set on growing the resource at the Super Pit in the 2021 financial year.

This has resulted in a 37 per cent increase in open resources (15.9 million ounces) at the Super Pit’s Fimiston South deposit in the nine months ending March 31, 2021.

Northern Star has also confirmed that drilling has identified unmodelled lodes at Fimiston South.

Company executive chair Bill Beament said ore increases will assist its strategy to reach two million ounces of gold production per year by 2027.

“This latest significant increase in our inventory strengthens Northern Star’s unique position in the global gold industry,” he said.

“We own 56 million ounces of resources, including 21 million ounces of reserves, in Tier 1 locations.

“This exceptional inventory will underpin our production growth to around two million ounces per annum over coming years.”

Beament said there is still significant growth to be unlocked at the Super Pit.

“This result provides a small insight into the enormous upside at KCGM,” he said.

“By having this world-class asset owned by one company, we can ensure the exploration program is more aggressive and more effective in unlocking what we believe is the enormous potential within, around and below the existing operations.”

The Super Pit is the largest open pit mine in Australia and one of the largest globally.