PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australian gold miner Northern Star Resources has announced a board restructure aimed at capitalising on the company’s growth opportunities.

MD Bill Beament has been appointed executive chairperson while COO Stuart Tonkin has been appointed CEO. Founding chairperson Chris Rowe will be appointed a nonexecutive director, while current nonexecutive director John Fitzgerald will assume the role of lead independent director.

The changes will take effect at the company’s annual general meeting, in November.

Furthermore, the Northern Star board has been expanded with the appointment of Shirley in’t Veld and David Flanagan as nonexecutive directors.

In’t Veld is a former MD of utility Verve Energy and was a senior executive and director of Alcoa Australia, while Flanagan is the founding MD and was later chairperson of iron-ore miner Atlas Iron.

Rowe told shareholders on Thursday that the additions to the board and management structure at Northern Star were aimed at enabling the company to exploit its growth opportunities while maintaining its track record of strong, consistent, tight costs control and superior financial returns.

“Northern Star is now in the outstanding position of having free annual cash flow of around A$225-million and no debt, and production is on track to rise to 600 000 oz a year by 2018.”

The board restructure comes after Northern Star entered into a tenement purchase agreement with fellow-listed Northern Minerals, under which it will acquire a package of exploration licences in the Tanami region, in the Northern Territory, for A$1.25-million in cash.

Northern Star has also agreed to pay A$1.5-million in cash on the establishment of a one-million-ounce Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant inferred mineral resource at the tenement, subject to the transaction.

The package includes 12 granted exploration licences covering 3 350 km², and a further 3 360 km² of tenements subjected to exploration licence applications.