Super Pit to be wholly Australian owned, as Northern Star moves to buy half
A Northern Star deal would put the iconic gold mine in full Australian ownership for the first time in its operating life.
Kalgoorlie's iconic Super Pit is set to return to Australian hands, as Northern Star Resources prepares a capital raising for Newmont's half of the massive gold mine.
Northern Star called a halt to trading in its shares ahead of the announcement of a “significant transaction” and capital raising. It is understood the company is set to pay about $US750 million ($1.1 billion) – the same as Saracen Mineral Holdings – for the operating half of the iconic Kalgoorlie mine.
The West Australian gold miner had $372 million in cash at the time of its November annual shareholder meeting, according to a company presentation, with no debt. Northern Star is believed to have tapped Macquarie and Canaccord for a raising to fund the deal.
The deal would see the Super Pit, which has produced more than 21 million ounces of hold over its life, become wholly Australian-owned for the first time in its operating life.
The mine was the brainchild of Perth corporate raider Alan Bond, who spent much of the 1980s buying up the tenements that make up the mine.
Half of the project was acquired by US gold major Homestake before the mine began production in 1989 and, although it remained half-owned by Australia’s Normandy Gold until 2002, it became solely foreign owned when Normandy was swallowed up by Newmont in 2002.
The square mile around the discovery has produced more than 61 million ounces of gold, with more than 21 million from the Super Pit itself.
Saracen bought half of the mine from Barrick in November, with Northern Star – which has long harboured ambitions to own Australia’s best-known gold mine – likely to announce the acquisition of the other half within days.
Northern Star shares last traded at $9.65.
More to come
