Incoming Leader for Northern Star Faces Landing Turbulence

When Australia-based gold miner Northern Star announced the appointment of Suresh Sidnagra as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in July, there had already been speculation that the company might be the subject of a takeover approach. 

Suresh’s appointment will take effect on 5 October 2026 once Suresh’s notice period at Glencore elapses. 

At the time of his appointment, Suresh commented: ““I am very excited to be joining Northern Star at a time of significant opportunity for the Company and its portfolio of high-quality, long-life assets. I look forward to stepping into the role and working with the team at Northern Star to progress the major development projects, enhance operational performance and further strengthen the portfolio.”

Michael Chaney, Northern Star's Chairman says: “We are very pleased to have a leader of Suresh’s calibre join the Northern Star team. Suresh is an accomplished mining executive with the experience and capabilities to unlock the full potential of our assets and our people – from ramping up KCGM, progressing Hemi and optimising all of our assets.”

Suresh’s career so far

Prior to joining Northern Star, Suresh has been working as Head of Nickel and Zinc Industrial Assets at Glencore, based in Glencore’s Zug headquarters in Switzerland since February 2024.

Before joining Glencore, Suresh had been Chief Projects and Technical Officer at Newcrest Mining. At Newcrest, Suresh was responsible for project delivery, mining technology as well as technical teams. Suresh was also responsible for shaping Newcrest’s portfolio strategy. 

Suresh also previously held roles at BHP, Iluka Resources and at MMG, where he was serving as Executive General Manager Operations immediately prior to joining Newcrest.

Activist investor challenges

At the time of Suresh’s appointment, the activist private investor Elliott Investment Management (Elliott), which had acquired a minority 5.6% shareholding in Northern Star earlier in 2026, mounted a campaign of private and public interventions encouraging the board to make changes at both senior management and board level.  

Elliott explicitly identified perceived project execution underperformance by Northern Star, including project delays and cost overruns, as factors contributing to the company’s share price valuation. 

However, Elliott also identified a potential sale or merger of Northern Star as one of the “alternatives” that should fall out of a standalone turnaround plan.“No options should be taken off the table, and no outcome should be prejudged,” Elliott stated in a June press release. 

Although Northern Star rebuffed Elliott’s calls for it to directly appoint four independent board members, Elliott welcomed South Africa-based gold miner’s Gold Fields behind the scenes enquiries about a potential takeover, noting that Gold Fields was one of the only miners large enough to acquire Northern Star.  

Northern Star publicly rejected Gold Fields’ behind the scenes approaches in late September. Gold Fields responded by reiterating its continuing willingness to engage in discussions, while reaching out to Northern Star’s investors.

Michael Ashforth elevated to Chairman

The current Chairman and CEO, Michael Chaney, confirmed his intention to step down in November 2026, after Northern Star’s AGM. He will be succeeded by Deputy Chairman Michael Ashforth. Michael was appointed Deputy Chairman in July 2025, after initially joining the board as an independent director.

Northern Star’s current Chief Financial Officer Ryan Gurner has also announced that he intends to leave the gold miner at the end of November 2026. Ryan is currently serving as interim CEO during the period between former Managing Director Stuart Tonkin’s departure from the business on 28 August and Suresh’s arrival as CEO. Ryan’s responsibilities as CFO are currently being fulfilled by Acting CFO Phillip Coetzer. Phillip has held the role of General Manager - Finance since joining Northern Star in 2022.