Q1 2025 Northern Star Resources Ltd Activities Report Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Daniel Morgan - Barrenjoey - Analyst : Hi, Stuart and team. Simple question with regard to your operational performance, like, could you just do a quick around the grounds as a simple snapshot of where your businesses, various businesses were versus your expectations in the quarter? Like with, you know, each, each business, was it ahead or behind? And just to give us an overall sense of how we're tracking? Thank you.

Question: Daniel Morgan - Barrenjoey - Analyst : So just following up, a little bit on thunderbox, I'm surprised to see the it, that nameplate despite the big rectifications, I know it's early, but have you got a sense for how much you might be able to push that nameplate for the rest of the year? And do you have confidence in the, that the rectifications? Now mean that the, the mill can deliver? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 23, 2024 / 10:00PM, NST.AX - Q1 2025 Northern Star Resources Ltd Activities Report Call

Question: Daniel Morgan - Barrenjoey - Analyst : And then, I mean, just pivoting over to Pogo. Again, the operation seemed to deal very well with a big mill rectification during the period. You built some stockpiles; you're talking about operating at 1.4 million tons or above. Does that mean potentially this asset could deliver, you know, towards the upper end of your garden? So, could you just unpick what the rest of the year looks like in your confidence from here?

Question: Daniel Morgan - Barrenjoey - Analyst : Thank you so much. Stuart and team.

Question: Mitch Ryan - Jefferies LLC - Analyst : Morning or so just wanted some commentary at Yandal. You, you've called out that satellite feed sources are expected to double up to 4 million times in FY26 in light of that. I'm just wondering if you can sort of help us think about growth CapEx into FY26. I know the guidance for this year is AUD285 million to AUD307 million. Do we sort of expect that to be maintained? Given the, the capital, we have to go on the infrastructure to maintain that satellite feed.

Question: Mitch Ryan - Jefferies LLC - Analyst : Thank you for that. My second question just relates to you've called out the Pogo is going from 2 to 3 shut down the year. You may have given timings, but I've missed it if you have. Can you just give some commentary around sort of which quarters we should expect those to fall in? And will it be the same quarters every, every financial year?

Question: David Radclyffe - Global Mining Research Pty Ltd. - Analyst : Hi, good morning, Stuart team. So the first question is a bit of a high level one, just maybe if you could give us some of your thoughts on the impact of what the sort of $4,000 ounce goal price actually means for the business day to day now. So really thinking about near term opportunities, do you consider accelerating some of the stripping or pushing some extra development or do you think about even bringing forward some of the sustaining capital projects?

Question: David Radclyffe - Global Mining Research Pty Ltd. - Analyst : Okay, thanks. Well, it's good to hear. Obviously, you're sticking to plan, but maybe to follow up on that hedging comment. Could you just clarify again what the hedging strategy is, last quarter, no, hedging this quarter, we tend to be back to hedging and rolling that forward program. Obviously, as you say, the AUD4,000 an ounce is a great and very attractive price, but the forward strategy hasn't worked so well in the short term. So just a bit of clarification, we good.

Question: David Radclyffe - Global Mining Research Pty Ltd. - Analyst : Brilliant. Thank you. I'll pass it on.

Question: Al Harvey - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Yeah, morning Stuart and Ryan. Just on the Cisco convertible conversion, I guess just trying to get a sense of what the plans are for the [188] Mill Canadian. Could that come back through the buyback and, maybe just a more general one just how you're weighing up capital management options across growth versus capital returns at present.

Question: Al Harvey - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Sure. And, and I suppose maybe just a follow up, I mean, I think you've kind of answered it with, discipline, et cetera, but just thinking, I guess the Cisco convertible was kind of entered in as a, as another option is, further progress into North America. I mean, how we're thinking about potential growth M&A in that space? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 23, 2024 / 10:00PM, NST.AX - Q1 2025 Northern Star Resources Ltd Activities Report Call

Question: Matthew Frydman - MST Marquee - Analyst : Sure. Thanks. Morning, Stu and Ryan. Firstly, on KCGM -- and I think you might have alluded to this already in your response to Dan's question. So apologies if I'm going over old ground, but I just wanted to understand the lower feed grade during the quarter. Obviously, you said more stockpiles, and that appears to be as a result of that lower open pit ore mined. Is that just as a result of lumpy access to those high-grade zones as a function of the mine plan? Is there anything we should be reading into there in terms of the lower open pit ore mined during the quarter and the higher stockpile feeds, obviously, despite the fact that you had a plant shut? And I guess ultimately is the expectation that all mine volumes are going to pick up in the following quarter? Thanks.

Question: Matthew Frydman - MST Marquee - Analyst : Yeah, understood. Thanks, Stu. And then maybe just a bit more of a fulsome update on the mill expansion. If I look at the capital spend there, I guess in terms of the run rate, relative to your guidance for the year, everything appears on track. But is there anything maybe at a more granular level that's moving around? How's progress on the ground relative to your timelines and your project expectations? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 23, 2024 / 10:00PM, NST.AX - Q1 2025 Northern Star Resources Ltd Activities Report Call And is there any sort of challenges or opportunities that are presenting themselves, given the broader industry backdrop? Commentary has been that engineering services are a little bit easier to come by and maybe labor is -- skilled labor is a little bit easier to secure. So is that kind of being reflected in how that project is progressing? Thanks.

Question: Jonathan Sharp - CLSA - Analyst : Yeah, good morning, Stu and team. Just a follow-up question from Mitch's question about Pogo shutdown. Has the maintenance strategy changed in terms of planned maintenance, time over a yearly basis or over a per tonnes basis or has that actually stayed the same, and it's just you're producing more maintenance?

Question: Jonathan Sharp - CLSA - Analyst : Okay, great. So could I summarize it as an increase in planned maintenance to decrease unplanned maintenance?

Question: Jonathan Sharp - CLSA - Analyst : Yeah. Makes sense. And just another question on KCGM mill expansion. It appears things are going pretty well, at least on paper. But as you know, as we all know, things -- there's always issues to manage. What do you see as the key risk or challenges in the next six months?

Question: Hugo Nicolaci - Goldman Sachs Australia Pty Ltd. - Analyst : Hi, Stu and Ryan. Thanks for the update, and congrats to the team at Pogo for the performance there. A number of questions on the quarter have already been asked. So I wanted to try and come back to the mine grade outlook across the portfolio, particularly at Yandal. I appreciate we've tried to touch on this one before, and you've historically guided to the outlook for grade across most assets being in line with reserve grade. Though if I take Thunderbox as an example, mine grade there has been below reserve grade since 2021. Are you able to give us a bit more color across the portfolio on how you expect grade to track over the coming years relative to reserve grade maybe and also just with regard to, the timing of new pits and new areas being opened up? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 23, 2024 / 10:00PM, NST.AX - Q1 2025 Northern Star Resources Ltd Activities Report Call

Question: Hugo Nicolaci - Goldman Sachs Australia Pty Ltd. - Analyst : Well, thanks for that color. So maybe in the near term, just depending on where you are on that sequencing piece and maybe grades kind of track a bit below reserve grade and then come back up as you start to see a bit more contribution from the higher grade zones. Is that fair?

Question: Hayden Bairstow - Argonaut Securities Pty Limited - Analyst : Good morning, guys. Just a quick one on KCGM. Just noticed there's a Stage 1, Stage 2 engineering work, and Stage 2 is only 30%-odd done. And how much of that is the CapEx? Is there any sort of concern that that's where we might get some CapEx variability as that engineering work is tidied up? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 23, 2024 / 10:00PM, NST.AX - Q1 2025 Northern Star Resources Ltd Activities Report Call

Question: Hayden Bairstow - Argonaut Securities Pty Limited - Analyst : Okay. And just on -- I mean, there's not much in here on some exploration, but is there anything that the exploration guys delivering Hercules or underground at KCGM that could actually come in and shift the five-year production outlook a bit?

Question: Hayden Bairstow - Argonaut Securities Pty Limited - Analyst : Alright, great. Thanks for that.

Question: Levi Spry - UBS Securities Australia Ltd. - Analyst : Good day, Stu and team. Thanks for your time and a lot of good questions there. Update on KCGM and Dave's questions around, I guess, price and where we are in the cycle. Maybe can you just sort of tie that together a bit for us, Stu? So how do you think about risks in the, I guess, the business? And I guess the sector overall, there are probably still a little bit of caution towards believing these prices from the investment community, I suspect. How do you think it plays out next?