Gold Fields Limited - Operating Profit of R2.8 Billion and Net Earnings of
R1.0 Billion in the Quarter Ended September 2009
- Attributable gold production at 906,000 ounces was in line with the previous quarter; - Total cash cost increased 5 per cent from R140,916 per kilogram (US$512 per ounce) to R147,343 per kilogram (US$586 per ounce); - Notional cash expenditure increased 2 per cent from R203,042 per kilogram (US$738 per ounce) to R207,754 per kilogram (US$826 per ounce); - Net debt at R6.7 billion (US$908 million) is robust at 0.58 of annual EBITDA; - Post quarter end announcement of 271 million ounces of mineral resources and 81 million ounces of mineral reserves for F2010; - Royalty payable by St Ives terminated for a total consideration of A$308 million; - Stake in Eldorado sold for US$299 million, following the exchange of Sino shares for Eldorado shares.
Statement by
"Despite a challenging quarter at Driefontein and Kloof, where safety related interruptions had a material effect on their respective production levels, Gold Fields maintained its production in line with the guidance provided on
We are extremely disappointed with the six fatalities during the quarter, and have again redoubled our efforts to reinforce the commitment of every person in Gold Fields to operate safely. Safety is our number one value and we remain committed not to mine if we cannot mine safely, and to improve even further on the record safety year that we had during F2009.
Particularly pleasing during the past quarter has been the outstanding performances from Cerro Corona, Beatrix and South Deep, all of which exceeded their guidance, and Tarkwa which came in on guidance. Consistent performances were also delivered from Agnew and Damang.
In the
St Ives had a disappointing quarter, its production being 9 per cent below the previous quarter. This was mainly as a result of the rehabilitation work in a high grade area of the Belleisle underground mine taking longer than expected due to safety concerns. We look forward to a stronger performance from St Ives over the next quarterly period. Agnew had a satisfactory quarter with production levels similar to the previous quarter.
With the Tarkwa CIL plant now having stabilised at its nameplate capacity of more than a million tons milled per month, the West
The Group has achieved a solid cost performance during the first quarter. Despite the Rand exchange rate of R7.82 against the US Dollar being about two per cent stronger than the rate of R8.00 used in our guidance for the quarter, our cash costs came in on guidance at US$586/oz and our NCE slightly better than guidance at US$826/oz.
We look forward to further improvements in our performance during the December quarter and our aim is to increase production to approximately 925,000 ounces in this next quarter."
The full results are available on the Gold Fields website: http://www.goldfields.co.za
About Gold Fields
Gold Fields is one of the world's largest unhedged producers of gold with attributable production of 3.6 million ounces* per annum from nine operating mines in
For more information please visit the Gold Fields website at http://www.goldfields.co.za.
*Based on the annualised run rate for the fourth quarter of F2009
For further information: Willie Jacobsz, Mobile: (857) 241-7127; Nikki Catrakilis-Wagner, Mobile: +27(0)83-309-6720
Share this article