Northern Star Resources acquires Pogo gold mine in Alaska for US$260M

On September 28, 2018, Northern Star Resources (“NST”) completed an acquisition of the Pogo gold project in Alaska from Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd (85% interest and the mine operator) (“SMM”) and Sumitomo Corp. (15% interest) (“SC”) for US$260 million. This transaction represents NST’s first operation outside of Australia.

Northern Star Resources, a Perth-based mid-tier gold producer, operates numerous underground gold mines in Australia. The Pogo mine is considered a Tier-1 project in a Tier-1 jurisdiction, having an average annual production of 3 million ounces of gold.

Sumitomo Metal Mining is Japan’s largest gold miner and a global leader in the development and mining of non-ferrous metals.

Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP advised NST on all aspects of this transaction. The deal was led by Johanna Fipke and included Andrew Gabrielson, Steven Catania, Sarah Martin, Sarah Cuddy and Fergus McDonnell. Stoel Rives LLP was local US counsel to NST.

DLA Piper (Canada) LLP acted as legal adviser to SMM/SC. The DLA Piper Canada transaction team was led by David Reid, Global Co-Chair of DLA Piper’s Mining Group, and included Ruby Chan, Don Collie, Mike Megalli, Brent MacLean, Kevin Wright, and Peter Li. Dorsey & Whitney LLP was local US counsel to SMM/SC.