Northern Star recruits new managers

Northern Star Resources has announced an expansion of its management team following two major acquisitions in the gold mine sector.

Northen Star expects the recent acquisition of the Plutonic gold mine from Barrick Gold will enable a doubling of production to 200,000 ounces per year, while the acquisitions of Kundana and Kanowna Belle gold mines will lift output towards 350,000oz pa.

Tony James and Luke Creagh have been appointed as general manager of Kanowna Belle gold mine and head of Northern Star’s mining services division respectively.

Mr James is the former chief operating officer of Avoca Resources and former president of Australian operations for Alacer Gold.

Mr Creagh was previously general manager of WA operations for Barminco, which currently has contracts at the Plutonic, Kundana and Kanowna Belle mines.

Northern Star has also announced the appointment of Corey Doust as general manager of its established Paulsens gold mine replacing Darren Stralow, as he heads the integration team over newly acquitted assets.

It said the purpose of the new appointment was “to ensure that its commitments to low production costs, maximum productivity and exploration success are met”.

Northern Star managing director Bill Beament said the company had been building its management team in the lead-up to its acquisitions.

This process has involved the company carrying a full mine management team for the past 18 months, including Craig Jones, the previous general manager of Paulsens, who is now running the Plutonic gold mine.

“We have been recruiting experienced senior operations people for well over a year to ensure that when we made an acquisition we had the skills to integrate operations efficiently and maximise the returns,” Mr Beament said.

“While this has meant we have had higher overheads than were required for one mine, we believed it was a prudent investment given our growth ambitions.

“This strategy is now paying dividends and I have absolutely no doubt that we have the management depth and strength to ensure we drive growth, productivity and profitability at our new operations.”