THE Central Tanami gold project could become more prominent in...

THE Central Tanami gold project could become more prominent in Northern Star Resources’ portfolio in the wake of increased costs in Western Australia, according to Bill Beament.
Northern Star acquired an initial 25% stake in Tanami Gold’s Central Tanami project in the Northern Territory in 2015 after beating a rival offer from Metals X, and can move to 60% by sole-funding work.
While Beament has long been keen on the region – which also hosts Newmont Mining’s reinvigorated Tanami operation – he’s admitted that the project has stalled due to the exploration success Northern Star has had at its existing WA operations.
The project is not slated to come online until the 2021 financial year, as per Northern Star’s 10-year plan, but Beament said that could change in the wake of the WA government’s proposed 50% gold royalty hike.
“If you actually do the analysis, the Northern Territory is a better location to own a gold mine than Western Australia if this goes ahead,” he said yesterday.
“To put that into perspective, I think Western Australia’s in the top three of the Fraser Institute of desirable mining jurisdictions worldwide – I think Northern Territory was 37 on the last analysis.
“Moving forward, it’s a better gold jurisdiction than Western Australia – and I find that astounding. Why would you put this state’s number one industry, and 70% of Australia’s gold production, at risk?”
A $6 million budget has been allocated this financial year for exploration within Central Tanami’s existing deposits, as well as early stage evaluation of the broader ground.
Northern Star is looking to redevelop Central Tanami into potentially a 120,000-150,000oz per annum operation.
Project redevelopment studies are expected to begin at the end of the year.
On Tuesday, Tanami said Northern Star would acquire its Western Tanami project – 90km from Central Tanami – for A$4 million.
Northern Star recently acquired a substantial strategic land position, known as the Tanami Regional project, to complement its ground at Central Tanami.
The company now has 9200sq.km of tenure in the region, which Beament has described as “elephant country”.
Beament told MNN yesterday that regional consolidation was part of its strategy.
“The Northern Territory, under the current regime, will be a better jurisdiction to operate in,” he said.
“So if we can consolidate in that region, which is what we’ve been doing, then it’s a desirable place to own a gold mine.”
Beament said the company’s employees, contractors and suppliers had been put on notice.
He added that WA would lose in other ways if companies looked outside the state.
“What happens if we develop a mine in the Northern Territory? Where does the workforce come from? It comes from Western Australia,” he said.
Beament didn’t rule out looking to other areas outside WA.
He told the Denver Gold Forum last week that Northern Star was “open for business”.
“That wasn’t WA business,” he clarified yesterday.