Northern Star Resources has announced current deputy chairman Michael Ashforth will succeed Michael Chaney AO as chairman following the company’s annual general meeting in November.
The transition has been expected for some time, with Chaney previously advising shareholders at his re-election in 2023 that his current term would be his last.
Ashforth has served as an independent non-executive director at Northern Star for the past two years and has been deputy chairman since July 2025. The company said the appointment forms part of the board’s ongoing governance renewal program.
Ashforth brings almost 30 years of experience across law, investment banking and corporate advisory. His previous roles include a partner at Freehills – now Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer – a managing director at Gresham Partners, executive director at Macquarie Capital and a regional adviser at Goldman Sachs.
He has also served as executive chairman of private company AMB Holdings and spent nine years as a member of the Australian Takeovers Panel.
Northern Star said Ashforth’s experience in governance, transactions, capital allocation and leadership oversight positions him to lead the board through the company’s next phase of growth.
Outside the resources sector, Ashforth is a director of the Wunan Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation based in Kununurra that supports Aboriginal people in Western Australia’s East Kimberley region.
Within Northern Star, he is also currently a member of the company’s People & Culture Committee and Nomination Committee.
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