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GOLD FIELDS LIMITED - South Deep and NUM reach agreement to end strike action

Release Date: 18/12/2018 16:45
Code(s): GFI     PDF:  
Wrap Text
South Deep and NUM reach agreement to end strike action

Gold Fields Limited
Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Registration Number 1968/004880/06)
JSE, NYSE, DIFX Share Code: GFI
ISIN: ZAE000018123
("Gold Fields" or “the Company”)

South Deep and NUM reach agreement to end strike action


Johannesburg, 18 December 2018: Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields)
(JSE, NYSE: GFI) is pleased to announced that it has reached
agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) to
officially end the 45-day strike at its South Deep mine in South
Africa.

Employees have been returning to work since last Thursday (13
December 2018) when the NUM called off the strike, but the formal
settlement agreement to end the strike was only signed today after
a mass meeting held by the NUM.

In terms of the agreement, the retrenchments of 1,082 employees
will go ahead, with most of these retrenchments having already
been processed. Retrenched employees have been offered portable
skills training to assist in their future job searches.

To alleviate the financial burden of employees who were on the ‘no-
work no-pay’ strike, South Deep has agreed to deduct the lost
earnings over four months and to pay all non-management
employees an ex-gratia payment of 20% of basic pay should they
have returned to work by the 15 December 2018. They can also earn
back part of their lost earnings if monthly gold production targets
are exceeded in January and February next year.

In the interest of the long-term operational and financial
sustainability of South Deep, the two parties have also agreed to:
    - Renegotiate and modernise the collective and other
        agreements, which govern the working relationship between
        the two parties.
    - A facilitated relationship building programme to address the
        difficult relationship between the NUM branch leadership
        and management.

Gold Fields’ embarked on a business restructuring and Section 189
retrenchment process at South Deep in mid-August 2018 in response
to continued high financial losses of around R100m a month.
The NUM branch at South Deep commenced its strike action on 2 November 2018 to protest the
retrenchments and used violence and intimidation to illegally block access to the mine. This prevented
South Deep from starting production, though critical essential services were maintained during the
strike. The mine experienced a cash burn of around R6m per day.

“With the strike over and our cost base adjusted to the reduced operating footprint and output, we
believe that we are well positioned to put South Deep on a sustainable road to recover and
significantly reduce our monthly cash losses at the mine,” said Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland. “We now
need to put this difficult period behind us and work together to build a sustainable future for our
employees, our communities, our shareholders and other stakeholders.”

Production is expected to build-up gradually from now on with the mine set to run production during
the Christmas/New Year break. In the meantime, the mine is ensuring that all safe start-up operating
processes have been completed.

“Detailed mine planning is currently under way and once the full impact of the mine planning exercise
and restructuring are complete, we expect to provide guidance for 2019 with our 2018 financial results
release in February 2019,” Holland said.



Enquiries

Investors

Avishkar Nagaser
Tel: +27 11 562-9775
Mobile: +27 82 312 8692
Email: Avishkar.Nagaser@goldfields.com

Thomas Mengel
Tel: +27 11 562 9849
Mobile: +27 72 493 5170
Email: Thomas.Mengel@goldfields.com

Media

Sven Lunsche
Tel: +27 11 562-9763
Mobile: +27 83 260 9279
Email: Sven.Lunsche@goldfields.com



Notes to editors
About Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited is a globally diversified gold producer with seven operating mines in Australia,
Ghana, Peru and South Africa, and a total attributable annual gold-equivalent production of
approximately 2.2 million ounces. It has attributable gold Mineral Reserves of around 49 million
ounces and gold Mineral Resources of around 104 million ounces. Attributable copper Mineral
Reserves total 764 million pounds and Mineral Resources 4,881 million pounds. Gold Fields has a
primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Limited, with secondary listings on the New
York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Swiss Exchange (SIX).

Sponsor: J.P. Morgan Equities South Africa (Pty) Ltd

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