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GFI - Gold Fields Limited - Gold Fields production and costs for q1 F2010 in
line with guidance
Gold Fields Limited
(Reg. No. 1968/004880/06)
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
("Gold Fields" or "the Company")
JSE, NYSE, NASDAQ Dubai - Share Code: GFI
NYX Code: GFLB, and SWX Code: GOLI
ISIN: ZAE000018123
MEDIA RELEASE
GOLD FIELDS PRODUCTION AND COSTS FOR
Q1 F2010 IN LINE WITH GUIDANCE
Johannesburg, 1 October 2009: Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) (JSE, NYSE,
NASDAQ Dubai: GFI) today confirmed that production and costs for Q1 F2010 is in
line with the guidance provided on 6 August 2009. Attributable production for
the quarter was approximately 906koz, while total cash cost and Notional Cash
Expenditure (NCE1) for the Group are expected to be approximately US$590/oz and
US$835/oz respectively, despite the Rand exchange rate achieved during the
quarter being stronger than the rate used in the guidance.
South Africa Region
Q1 F2010 production from the South Africa Region was approximately 16,385kg
(527koz), compared with 16,447kg (529koz) achieved in Q4 F2009, with the
individual mines performing as follows:
* Driefontein produced approximately 5,892kg (190koz);
* Kloof produced approximately 5,024kg (161koz);
* Beatrix produced approximately 3,437kg (111koz); and
* South Deep produced approximately 2,032 (65koz).
West Africa Region
Q1 F2010 production from the West Africa Region increased marginally to 226koz,
compared with 218koz achieved in Q4 F2009, with the individual mines performing
as follows:
* Tarkwa produced approximately 175koz; and
* Damang produced approximately 51koz.
Australasia Region
Q1 F2010 production from the Australasia Region decreased marginally to 146koz,
compared with 154koz achieved in Q4 F2009, with the individual mines performing
as follows:
St Ives produced approximately 100koz; and
Agnew produced approximately 46koz.
South America Region
Cerro Corona in Peru had another strong quarter with production, on a gold
equivalent basis, increasing marginally to 88koz, compared with 84koz achieved
in Q4 F2009.The 88koz produced in Q1 F2010 comprises 33koz of gold and 9 tons of
copper.
Nick Holland, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields, said:
"Our results for Q1 F2010 will be broadly in line with guidance."
"We are particularly pleased with the good progress achieved during Q1 F2010 at
South Deep and Beatrix in South Africa, and at Tarkwa in Ghana. Beatrix
continued the turn-around achieved during the previous quarter by reporting a
further 8% increase in production to 111koz. South Deep continued to build up
towards its F2010 target of 300koz for the year by reporting a further 25%
improvement in production to 65koz. Tarkwa achieved its guidance of 175koz,
despite the impact of wage negotiations late in the quarter. The expanded CIL
plant reported a record month in August during which it exceeded its name plate
capacity of one million tons milled per month, and is now performing
consistently at name plate capacity level."
"Both Driefontein and Kloof had a difficult quarter mainly as a result of safety
related stoppages late in Q4 F2009, which affected production early in Q1 F2010.
We believe that both Driefontein and Kloof can and should do better, and the
focus remains on returning these operations to a production level of
approximately 6.5 tons of gold per quarter for Driefontein and 5.5 tons for
Kloof. After safety, ore reserve development is receiving priority attention at
all of our mines, to create the flexibility required to maintain sustainable
production at higher levels. As flexibility improves over the next 12 to 24
months we expect all of the South African mines to achieve greater stability,
predictability and consistency in their performance."
"St Ives did not achieve its guidance mainly as a result of the rehabilitation
work in a high grade area of the Belleisle underground mine, following a
geotechnical fall of ground in the previous quarter, taking longer than expected
to complete due to safety concerns. The additional ground support required to
ensure safe production after this event was completed by the end of August and
the integrity of the infrastructure, in particular to access the new Belleisle
extension, is intact. In addition St Ives experienced an unexpected high lock-up
of gold at the end of the quarter, which is expected to reverse itself during Q2
F2010."
"Despite the actual Rand exchange rate of R7.82 against the US Dollar for the
quarter being about two per cent stronger than the rate of R8.00 used in the
guidance, the Group again achieved a satisfactory cost performance with cash
costs expected to come in on guidance at US$590/oz and NCE slightly better than
guidance at US$835/oz."
"Notwithstanding the challenges at Driefontein, Kloof and St Ives during the
quarter, I am pleased with the overall performance of the Group. I am satisfied
that the appropriate interventions are being made for Driefontein, Kloof and St
Ives to return to more acceptable levels of production over the coming quarters,
and for the Group to build up to its production target of between 925koz to
950koz per quarter over the remainder of the year."
1 NCE is operating costs plus all sustaining and project capital (brownfields
exploration is included in NCE).
ends
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 South Africa, Ghana, Australia and Peru. Gold Fields also has an
extensive growth pipeline with both greenfields and near mine exploration
projects at various stages of development. Gold Fields has total attributable
Mineral Reserves of 81 million ounces and Mineral Resources of 271 million
ounces. Gold Fields is listed on JSE Limited (primary listing), the New York
Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX), the
Euronext in Brussels (NYX) and the Swiss Exchange (SWX). For more information
please visit the Gold Fields website at www.goldfields.co.za.
*Based on the annualised run rate for the fourth quarter of F2009.
Date: 01/10/2009 10:03:00 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za
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