Perth, May 14, 2026, 07:09 AWST
Northern Star Resources Ltd reported that a portion of its enterprise resource planning system is still down following a cyber incident involving an undisclosed service provider. The Australian gold producer said it’s had to switch to manual procurement for now and has told suppliers not to expect payments to go through before May 21. According to the company, data backups are safe, restoration efforts are ongoing, and there’s no sign that supplier data held by Northern Star was breached. Its Pogo site in the U.S. wasn’t impacted.
Timing is crucial here. An enterprise resource planning system—ERP for short—handles back-office operations like purchasing, ordering, and invoicing. Northern Star happens to be deep into execution mode at its Kalgoorlie operations, with the Hemi project in Western Australia also moving forward.
After Northern Star trimmed its production outlook earlier in the year, investors have zeroed in on the miner’s schedule, with KCGM throughput flagged as a crucial variable. The March-quarter update didn’t budge fiscal 2026 targets: more than 1.5 million ounces in gold sales, all-in sustaining costs still pegged between A$2,600 and A$2,800 per ounce.
Northern Star finished Wednesday up 1.03% at A$21.64, with shares moving between A$21.34 and A$21.86, according to Market Index. Gains on May 12 pushed the stock higher for a second session, despite the latest cyber notice adding a new operational issue for suppliers to monitor.
Gold dropped again Wednesday, notching a second straight decline, as persistent U.S. inflation dampened hopes for imminent Fed rate cuts. Spot prices slid 0.6% to $4,686.35 an ounce. “Higher rates for longer” are weighing on the metal, according to Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals. Reuters
Prediction markets echoed the caution on rates. Polymarket pegged the odds of zero Fed cuts in 2026 at 69%, leaving a single 25-basis-point move with just a 17% probability. Over at Kalshi, its rate-cut-count market had “exactly 0 cuts” sitting near 54%, market-tracking data showed. Polymarket
Minor hiccups stand out in light of Northern Star’s most recent filings. The miner reported 380,807 ounces sold during the March quarter, all-in sustaining costs landing at A$2,709 per ounce. Of that, Kalgoorlie contributed 210,312 ounces, Yandal put up 104,922 ounces, and Pogo added 65,573 ounces.
Stuart Tonkin, Managing Director, noted in the quarterly report that operational performance picked up in the March quarter. Still, he cautioned that the full-year outlook is “particularly dependent on mill throughput at KCGM, with downside and upside potential.” Tonkin also confirmed plans for the KCGM mill expansion are proceeding, with commissioning expected in early fiscal 2027. NSR Limited
Northern Star’s balance sheet shows some breathing space. As of March 31, the company held A$1.18 billion in cash and bullion, carried no corporate bank debt, and still had its A$1.75 billion corporate bank facility untouched—refinanced, with maturities now pushed out to 2030 and 2031.
Competition continues to heat up. Earlier this month, Reuters Breakingviews noted that combining Regis Resources and Vault Minerals would yield a company producing around 700,000 ounces annually—still just about half of Northern Star’s output. Northern Star remains Australia’s top gold producer and ranks 10th globally, according to the publication.
Riding a wave of elevated bullion prices, global gold miners are jumping into dealmaking. Equinox Gold announced Wednesday it’s acquiring Orla Mining in an all-stock deal, aiming to forge a North American gold producer valued near $18.5 billion. Scale and safer mining locations still top the industry’s wish list.
Northern Star faces a potential headache if what’s currently a brief administrative snag ends up morphing into an extended supplier holdup—or if their view on data exposure shifts. So far, the miner insists the problem’s ring-fenced: manual workarounds are active, systems are being restored, and business rolls on. Eyes now turn to the May 21 payment window—that’s the next big check on whether the narrative holds.
