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Northern Star Resources is working to stabilise its expanded KCGM processing plant in Western Australia after commissioning issues contributed to lower-than-planned gold production in October.
The company reported production of 15,300 ounces from 766,000 tonnes of ore processed during the month.
According to Northern Star, intermittent problems with the mill motor control systems and equipment rectification work affected plant availability and throughput during October.
The company said the motor control issues had been resolved, with further work underway to improve reliability and processing rates.
KCGM is now tracking towards the lower end of Northern Star’s existing 2026–27 financial year (FY27) production guidance of 550,000–650,000 ounces, with the final outcome dependent on the pace of the plant’s ramp-up.
Northern Star managing director and chief executive officer Suresh Vadnagra said the company was working to resolve the remaining commissioning issues.
“While commissioning performance has not progressed as smoothly as we would have liked, we are focused on systematically resolving the remaining issues, which we do not consider to be fundamental, and establishing stable, reliable operating performance,” he said.
“The issues identified to date do not change our confidence in the expanded plant or in the tremendous long-termvalue that KCGM will deliver. Mining operations are performing to plan and ore inventories continue to build, positioning KCGM well as plant performance stabilises.”
Northern Star reported greater plant stability in early November, including higher availability and average throughput rates.
The company said mining activities across KCGM’s open-pit and underground operations were continuing to perform in line with plan, with higher-grade ore stockpiles building ahead of the expanded plant’s anticipated production ramp-up during the second half of FY27.
Northern Star has maintained its group gold sales guidance of 1.5–1.65 million ounces for FY27, with production expected to be weighted towards the second half of the financial year.
Meanwhile, the company’s Hemi gold project has received its primary Federal and State environmental approvals, marking another step towards development. The approvals cover requirements under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Act 1986.
Further approvals remain outstanding, including management plans for the main mining area, groundwater licensing requirements and other regulatory processes.
The project’s development schedule also remains subject to outstanding land access arrangements and regulatory approvals.
Northern Star expects to provide further updates on KCGM commissioning at its annual general meeting on 18 November and again in early December.
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