Northern Star shares fall after miner cuts production forecast

Shares in Northern Star Resources Ltd. dropped as much as 10% after the Australian gold miner cut its annual production guidance following a string of maintenance and operational problems in the December quarter.

The miner has revised down its annual production guidance to 1.6 million to 1.7 million ounces from 1.7 million to 1.8 million ounces, according to a statement on Friday. The company said lower gold sales across its three production centers would impact costs.

Sales from its Kalgoorlie center were hit by a primary crusher failure, which impacted production for four weeks. The processing plant will return to normal early this month, but throughout is “expected to remain variable during the second half”, the company said. Operations at Jundee are expected to return to normal during the March quarter.

The company is expecting to release quarterly results on Jan. 22.

(By Yihui Xie)