3 questions lodged at 2025 Northern Star hybrid AGM

Q1. As a Perth-based gold mining giant with large WA operations, how are we being treated by the WA Govt when it comes to royalties? Does the normal royalty exemption for a producer's first 2500 ounces in WA apply across all our WA operations or is that exemption on a per mine basis? In other words, how many ounces of WA Gold are we allowed to extract and export each year without paying the normal 2.5% royalty rate to the WA Govt, which is budgeting to collect $918m in gold royalties in 2025-26?

Answer: Is WA still a wholly owned subsidiary of the gold mining industry? Watch how the CEO Stuart Tonkin effectively confirms the tiny 2.5% royalty rate is incredibly generous for his $38b company and the 2,500 ounce exemption is on a per mine basis. Have asked the company to clarify how many separate WA mines it claims the exemption on, but yet to receive a reply. Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus these additional comments by chair Michael Chaney stressing that the tax is on a revenue not profit basis.

Q2. No offence to Nick Cernotta, but now that we're a $37.7 billion ASX top 20 company, it is really appropriate that all 8 of our directors live in. Even the CEO and CFO went to uni in Perth. Are we a global gold mining giant or a small Perth-based explorer. Could Nick also please comment on whether he knows whether the 76 year old chair, Michael Chaney, is planning to retire when his current term expires at the 2026 AGM, or seek another 3 year term. Where is the chair succession process at?

Answer: The chair Michael Chaney got a laugh saying he was only 75 and pointed out that Stuart Tonkin went to uni in Kalgoorlie, not Perth and Stuart said he went to the WA School of Mines, "the best mining school on the globe". Chaney said they were looking for new directors, particularly with gold mining experience and that John Fitzgerald and himself would be departing after the 2026 AGM. Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus these additional comments by chair Chaney suggesting that his successor will be announced mid-2026.

Q3. I'm a shareholder in Tribune Resources which owns a minority stake in the East Kalgoorlie or Kundana joint venture which is operated by Northern Star. Tribune goes out of its way to be unhelpful and inaccessible and is this year holding its physical AGM at 9am in Kalgoorlie on Friday, November 28, the busiest day of the year when around 200 public companies are holding their AGM, the majority being small WA miners. As a responsible larger corporate, could you please step up the disclosures on the likely future production and growth prospects of the EKJV, just to provide some better insight to the shareholders in your joint venturers who are provided with very little information at all.

Answer: Company secretary Hilary MacDonald sensibly did not read this question out because Northern Star sold its interest in this joint venture to Evolution Mining for $400 million back in 2021. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Constitution question prepared but not lodged

There is an unusual provision in our constitution on page 25 at clause 10.6(b) which says that any person who nominates for the board will only be eligible for election if all necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained related to the company's licenses, permits and authorisations. I thought board elections were strictly a matter for the owners of the company, the shareholders, save for the normal Corporations Law carve outs related to bankruptcy, ASIC bans and criminal convictions. Have any governments put conditions on their access agreements for their gold resources which reach in as far as letting them determine who can serve on the board of this company?

Copyright © 2025 The Mayne Report. All rights reserved

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