Perth, March 13, 2026, 07:21 AWST
Northern Star Resources Ltd shares drew attention again Friday after the gold producer cautioned it’s struggling to hit even the lower end of its full-year production target. Ongoing performance issues at Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines, or KCGM, together with slower mining at Jundee, are weighing on results. In the first two months of the March quarter—January and February—gold sales reached 220,000 ounces.
This hits just months after Northern Star trimmed its FY26 production outlook back in January. The miner posted a 49% jump in underlying net profit in February, crediting stronger realised gold prices for the boost. On results day, the shares rallied up to 6.7% to A$30.16, Reuters noted. Friday’s warning, though, makes it clear: the operational headwinds are still hanging around.
Morningstar figures shared by Intelligent Investor show the shares closed Thursday at A$26.77, a drop from A$29.36 just a week ago.
Northern Star now expects FY26 output to top 1.50 million ounces, according to the latest filing. The actual number, though, will hinge on how much ore the KCGM mill can process. Back in January, management had guided for 1.6 to 1.7 million ounces, which was itself a reduction from an earlier 1.7 to 1.85 million ounce outlook.
Managing Director Stuart Tonkin insisted management isn’t going to let pressure to deliver on the FY26 forecast “compromise the transition to the new plant.” Over the coming four months, he said, the focus will be on positioning the business for increased output and more efficient ounce extraction from FY27. NSR Limited
According to the company, commissioning for the KCGM mill expansion is still slated for early FY27. Northern Star reported a workforce of roughly 800 contractors working on the plant itself, with another 400 focused on enabling works. By the end of February, about 100,000 ounces of high-grade run-of-mine ore was stockpiled—waiting to be processed during the next financial year.
Northern Star has kicked off an operational review at Jundee, targeting cost cuts and a sharper focus on higher-margin ounces. The company may shift surplus staff and gear during the June quarter. Investors will get a fuller update when the March-quarter results drop on April 22.
That warning stands in stark contrast to Northern Star’s upbeat February half-year numbers: reported net profit after tax hit A$714 million, underlying profit landed at A$760 million and the miner kept its interim dividend steady at 25 Australian cents per share, fully franked — giving Australian investors those tax credits.
Gold dropped over 1% Thursday, slipping to around $5,118 an ounce, as the metal struggled under pressure from a firmer dollar and climbing Treasury yields. Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures, told Reuters those forces were pulling bullion lower, though ongoing geopolitical tensions continued to lend some safe-haven support.
Gold’s previous surge set off a burst of Australian M&A, with Gold Fields lining up to buy Gold Road, and Northern Star locking in an all-stock agreement for De Grey Mining. Back in May, Gold Fields CEO Mike Fraser told Reuters he expected more deals could surface as long as gold prices stayed strong.
Northern Star faces a clear risk here. Should KCGM’s throughput remain choppy or the Jundee restart drag out, there’s a good chance the company winds up finishing FY26 around its present upper-end forecast—just above 1.50 million ounces—rather than hitting the January target range. The larger mill? Still several months off.
Northern Star will release fresh medium-term production, cost, and capital forecasts by year-end, following investor requests for additional detail. A management update is set for 8:00 a.m. AWST this Friday, and the next firm operating update lands April 22.
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