Northern Star Resources boss Stuart Tonkin has urged the Western Australian government to hold strong as COVID-19 cases rise and not wind back relaxations of rules, claiming the sector was well prepared for the state’s looming first wave of the virus.

Posting weaker than expected first-half earnings on higher costs, Mr Tonkin said the miner had learnt from COVID-19 at its Pogo operations in Alaska that “structural downtime” caused by lengthy isolation periods for cases and close contacts could be “really penalising”, and backed WA Premier Mark McGowan’s halving of isolation rules this week to seven days.