Gold Fields to Proceed With Cerro Corona Project in Peru
December 05 2005 - 5:39AM
PR Newswire (US)
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, December 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) (NYSE:GFI)(JSE:GFI) is pleased to
announce that the Peruvian Government has approved the
environmental impact study for the Cerro Corona project in Northern
Peru. The feasibility study for this project was completed during
November and the Gold Fields Board, subject to the receipt of this
approval, subsequently approved the associated investment. The
project involves the development of a 91 million ton gold/copper
porphyry deposit at a capital cost of US$277 million. The project
has reserves(1) of some 2.9 million ounces of gold and 480,000 tons
of copper, or approximately 5.4 million ounces of gold
equivalent(1). The project is expected to produce approximately 2.3
million ounces of gold and 412,000 tons of copper over its 15-year
life, averaging some 300,000 ounces per year of gold equivalent(1).
However, production in the initial years of the project will be
closer to 400,000 ounces per year. Life of mine total cash costs,
on a gold equivalent basis, are estimated at some US$250 per
ounce(1). Ian Cockerill, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields
said: "The approval of the environmental impact study is the first
step in what we believe will be a long and mutually beneficial
partnership between Gold Fields and the people of Peru." Gold
Fields announced on December 19, 2003, that it, through its
subsidiary Gold Fields Corona BVI., had signed a definitive share
purchase agreement to acquire 92.0 per cent of the voting shares
(80.7% of the economic interest) in Sociedad Minera La Cima S.A.,
which owns the Cerro Corona Project and other mineral properties in
the Cajamarca district of Peru. Gold Fields will now commence steps
to complete the acquisition referred to above for a total
consideration of US$40 million, and construction is expected to
commence in February 2006. "Cerro Corona will bring us closer to
our strategic goal of acquiring an additional 1.5 million ounces of
international production by 2009, thereby improving the balance
between production from our South African and International
operations. It will consolidate our position in South America and,
together with our proposed acquisition of Bolivar and its Choco 10
mine in Venezuela, increase substantially our presence in one of
the most prospective gold regions of the world," added Cockerill.
Cerro Corona will be a single surface mine producing approximately
6.2 million tons per annum of ore at a life of mine strip ratio of
0.83, for a total of approximately 91 million tonnes of ore mined
over a 15-year life, at an average grade of 1.0 gram per tonne of
gold and 0.53% copper. Ore will be treated in a conventional
sulphide flotation concentrator, to produce a 25% copper
concentrate containing typically 40 grams per tonne of gold for
custom smelting at third party facilities. Approximately US$150
million of the capital costs will be financed through a project
finance facility and the balance of the capital costs as well as
the purchase consideration is expected to be funded from internal
sources. "With a purchase price of less than US$11 per reserve
ounce of gold-equivalent, the total cost of gold bought
(acquisition cost + capital costs + working costs), per ounce of
gold recovered, is approximately US$340 per ounce. Cerro Corona
represents fundamental value for Gold Fields' shareholders and
again confirms our commitment to the principle of not overpaying
for assets," said Cockerill "In Cerro Corona we will have a Gold
Fields franchise asset at one of the best gold mining addresses in
South America, a significant foothold from which we intend to grow
in the region," he added. The Cerro Corona deposit is located
within a well-endowed mineralised trend in the Hualgayoc mining
district, about 35 kilometres north of the well known Yanacocha
mine and approximately 90 kilometres by road north of the
Departmental capital of Cajamarca in the western Cordillera of the
Andes Mountains. Gold Fields is one of the world's largest unhedged
gold producers, with annual gold production of approximately 4.2
million ounces from mines in South Africa, Ghana and Australia as
well as a development project at Cerro Corona in Peru. The Company
has reserves of 64.8 million ounces and mineral resources of 174.5
million ounces. Gold Fields has its primary listing on the
Johannesburg Securities Exchange and secondary listings on the
NYSE, LSE, Euronext in Paris and Brussels, and on the Swiss
Exchange. All of Gold Fields' operations are ISO 14001 certified.
(1) Figures reported at US$375 per ounce of gold and US$0.90 per
pound of copper. DATASOURCE: Gold Fields Limited CONTACT: Gold
Fields, Willie Jacobsz, Tel: +27-11-644-2505, , Nerina Bodasing,
Tel: +27-11-644-2630, , Cheryl Martin, Tel: +1-303-796-8683,
Copyright
Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024