JOHANNESBURG, June 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Gold Fields Limited
(JSE: GFI) (NYSE: GFI) has today responded to a request from the
Church of England Pensions Board and the Swedish Council on Ethics
for information on mining companies' tailings storage facilities
(TSFs).
Gold Fields supports greater transparency in the mining sector
on tailings management. The company's tailings storage facilities'
(TSF) management disclosure document is available at
www.goldfields.com.
Gold Fields currently manages 32 tailings facilities, of which
12 are active and one will be commissioned imminently. A further
two are managed by Joint Venture operations. Gold Fields maintains
measures to manage its TSFs' safety, including compliance with the
International Council on Mining and Metals' (ICMM) Tailings
Governance Position Statement.
All Gold Fields' TSFs, as well as associated pipeline and
pumping infrastructure, are subject to an independent, external
audit every three years – or more frequently where required by
local circumstances or regulations – as well as regular internal
inspections, monitoring and formal annual Engineer of Record
reviews.
During 2017 and 2018, external and internal reviews of our
alignment with the ICMM position statements on water and tailings
management were carried out. The conclusion was that we are aligned
with both position statements.
Gold Fields supports and is contributing to the current work of
the ICMM, UN Environment and the UN Principles for Responsible
Investment to develop an international standard on tailings
management, led by an independent panel of experts. The standard
will be based on best practices to ensure that tailings facility
risks are managed appropriately, consistently and
transparently.
Following the catastrophic failure of the tailings facility at
the Corrego do Feijão iron ore mine in Brumadinho, Brazil, in January
2019, which left close to 300 people dead, Gold Fields'
operations carried out additional safety inspections at our
facilities.
To further improve operational safety of our TSFs, Gold Fields
is, where practical, evaluating the potential to move away from the
construction of upstream facilities to centre-line or downstream
designs, considering filtered and dry stacked tailings, as well as
in-pit tailings disposal.
Gold Fields will also continue to review and, where applicable
and practical, adopt leading practices in the design, construction,
operation and closure (including post-closure) of our tailings
dams.
Notes to editors
About Gold
Fields
Gold Fields Limited is a globally diversified gold producer with
eight operating mines (including our Asanko Joint Venture) and two
projects in Australia,
Chile, Ghana, Peru
and South Africa, with total
attributable annual gold-equivalent production of approximately
2Moz. It has attributable gold Mineral Reserves of around 48.1Moz
and gold Mineral Resources of around 96.6Moz. Attributable copper
Mineral Reserves total 691 million pounds and Mineral Resources
4,816 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).
Sponsor: J.P. Morgan Equities South Africa (Pty) Ltd
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
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SOURCE Gold Fields Limited