Northern Star’s gold sales dip even as prices hit record highs

Australian gold miner Northern Star Ltd. sold 3% less of the precious metal in the three months to end-September than the year before, even as prices in the period reached a series of record highs.

The Perth-headquartered company sold 381,000 ounces in its first quarter, it said in a statement Thursday. While it didn’t provide year-before totals, its figures for the same period a year ago showed it sold 394,000 ounces then.

Operational challenges at two of Northern Star’s mines in Australia would likely see sales fall by 20,000 ounces in the months ahead. Still, it maintained guidance for the year to end-June of 1.7 million to 1.85 million ounces of gold sold.

Northern Star’s production is centered at the massive Kalgoorlie hub and Yandal operation in Western Australia, as well as the Pogo mine in Alaska. The company’s growth pipeline includes the Hemi project in the Pilbara region.

(By Paul-Alain Hunt)