Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares are leaping higher today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gold stock closed on Friday trading for $15.30. In morning trade on Monday, shares are changing hands for $16.00 apiece, up 4.6%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.1% at this same time.
Here's why Northern Star shares are grabbing investor interest today.
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Northern Star shares jump on KCGM site visit
Investors are piling into the ASX 200 gold stock following the release of the miner's KCGM site visit presentation.
Northern Star's Kalgoorlie production centre is located in Western Australia.
Northern Star shares encompass a number of quality gold mines, including Pogo in the US state of Alaska, and Hemi and Yandal in Australia.
But KCGM is the company's key global asset. With 419,000 ounces of gold sold in FY 2025, the project accounts for 26% of Northern Star's total gold sold over the year.
And at 39 million ounces, KCGM makes up 55% of the miner's mineral resources. The project's 14 million ounces of ore reserves account for 65% of the company's total ore reserves,
The site visit reveals that KCGM has both open pit and underground mining going on, with stockpiles of 144 million tonnes at 0.6 grams of gold per tonne.
And Northern Star shares could be getting a boost today, with the company highlighting that expansion is underway.
Currently, the process plants have existing capacity of 12 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). With construction underway, that's forecast to increase to 23Mtpa in FY 2027, 25Mtpa in FY 2028, and 27Mtpa in FY 2029 and beyond.
Management also provided FY 2026 KCGM production and cost guidance.
The ASX 200 mining stock expects its flagship project to sell 550,000 ounces to 600,000 ounces of gold in the financial year ahead.
Management plans major mill shutdowns in both the first and third quarters, with the Fimiston Processing Plant achieving 12Mtpa.
Milled grades in Q1 are expected to be in the range of 1.2g/t to 1.4g/t, with grades forecast to lift over the following quarters.
Northern Star also flagged sustaining capital costs of AU$380 to AU$420 per ounce, with higher gold price-related royalties expected.
Should you buy the ASX 200 gold mining stock today?
Following the ASX 200 gold miner's June quarter update, released last Thursday, Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) reiterated its outperform rating for Northern Star shares.
According to Macquarie:
While progressing to plan, timing and cost control of the KCGM expansion is important. NST also commented that a little more colour on the group's outlook would be provided at the KCGM site visit on the 2 August.
The broker has a 12-month price target for Northern Star shares of $25.00, more than 56% above current levels.
Atop those potential share price gains, Northern Star trades on an unfranked 3.1% trailing dividend yield.
