The Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price will be one to watch on Thursday morning. This comes after the Australian gold miner announced an asset sale along with a leadership change.
At yesterday's market close, Northern Star shares finished the day at $10.21.
Northern Star sells Kundana assets
According to its release, Northern Star has entered into a binding Share and Asset Sale Agreement with fellow gold miner, Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN).
The sale price of Northern Star's Kundana assets is listed for $400 million in cash. This includes the following:
- Kundana Operations;
- East Kundana Production Joint Venture 51% interest;
- West Kundana Farmin Joint Venture 75% interest; and
- Carbine / Carnage gold project.
To ensure a smooth transition, Evolution will offer employment contracts to all of Northern Star's transferring employees.
In FY21, the Kundana Assets produced 120,943 ounces of gold. The combined resource estimate is 2.4 million ounces, including reserves of 579,000 ounces.
Northern Star will use the sale proceeds to accelerate growth projects currently in the pipeline.
The completion of the sale is subject to receiving ministerial consent for the transfer of six mining tenements. The company expects to wrap up the transaction by the end of next month.
Leadership change
In other news, Northern Star announced the appointment of Stuart Tonkin as its new managing director in the wake of the company's merger with Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (ASX: SAR).
Mr Tonkin replaces Raleigh Finlayson, who will move from managing director to executive director for a transitionary period of around two months. Once this time has passed, Mr Finlayson will retire from the board, before re-joining again as a non-executive director in April 2022.
Northern Star said that Mr Finlayson's temporary departure will allow him to complete an Advanced Management Program with Harvard University.
Northern Star chair Michael Chaney commented on the reshuffle, highlighting Mr Tonkin's achievements:
Stuart is highly qualified for the role in every respect. He is widely regarded as one of the leading resource project operators in Australia and has more than 20 years' experience as a senior executive in the industry.
Having spent the past five years as Chief Executive of Northern Star and three years before then as the Company's Chief Operating Officer, Stuart has firsthand knowledge of our business, with an extensive understanding of the assets, and especially our people.
Stuart is perfectly placed to lead Northern Star as we seek to optimise the operational performance and financial returns of the exceptional asset base which the Company has established as the result of an intense period of merger and acquisition activity.
Northern Star share price summary
The Northern Star share price has been gradually descending over the past year, recording a fall of roughly 35%. In 2021 alone, the company's shares are down about 20%.
Based on valuation grounds, Northern Star has a market capitalisation of approximately $11.8 billion, with 1.1 billion shares on issue.
