Gold Fields and Sino Gold Join Forces to Grow in China
November 23 2006 - 2:46AM
PR Newswire (US)
SYDNEY and JOHANNESBURG, November 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sino
Gold Limited (Sino Gold) (ASX:SGX) and Gold Fields Limited (Gold
Fields) (NYSE: GFINYSE:JSE:NYSE:GFINYSE:DIFX:NYSE:GFI) are pleased
to announce the formation of a major new strategic alliance,
combining Sino Gold's proven and recognised operational,
development and business capabilities in China with the technical,
financial and human resources expertise of Gold Fields, the world's
fourth largest gold company. The strategic alliance will: -
Introduce Gold Fields as the largest shareholder in Sino Gold
through the placement of 6.5 million ordinary shares, at a price of
$5.58 per share, taking Gold Fields' total shareholding in Sino
Gold to 27,708,020 million shares or 17.4% of the company's
expanded total issued share capital; - Create a dedicated new,
50:50 jointly owned and funded, group to target and explore China
for projects that meet Gold Fields' benchmark "rule of fives"
criteria: resources of at least 5,000,000 ounces of gold and
production capacity of approximately 500,000 ounces of gold per
annum; - Integrate Gold Fields' existing exploration assets and
personnel in China into Sino Gold which, in terms of the strategic
alliance, will in future conduct all of Gold Fields' exploration
activity in China; and - Provide Sino Gold access to the technical
expertise and training programs of Gold Fields. Ian Cockerill,
chief executive officer of Gold Fields, said: "This strategic
alliance represents the next logical step in the developing
relationship between Gold Fields and Sino Gold, our long standing
partner in China. It provides Gold Fields with the ability to
strengthen and accelerate its exploration efforts for large, high
quality, long life assets in a highly prospective region of the
world." "China is a key strategic region for Gold Fields and
combining our technical, financial and human resources expertise
with Sino Gold's proven commercial and operational track record in
China, will create a stronger partnership to deliver on our mutual
exploration and development objectives," added Cockerill. The
strategic alliance will explore primarily for porphyry,
high-sulphidation epithermal or sediment-hosted disseminated
orogenic style gold mineralisation. These styles of mineralisation
are not currently the focus of Sino Gold's exploration program in
China. Jake Klein, chief executive officer of Sino Gold, said: "We
are very pleased that a company of Gold Fields' calibre has chosen
Sino Gold as its exploration and development vehicle in China. The
combination of Gold Fields, the world's 4th largest gold producer,
and Sino Gold, the largest foreign gold producer in China, is both
compelling and powerful. The exploration focus introduced through
this alliance is a significant addition to, and separate from, Sino
Gold's current exploration program." "This strategic alliance will
provide additional funding and expertise to further accelerate our
exploration in order to discover and develop multi-million ounce
deposits in China, in styles of deposits that Sino Gold has to date
not been targeting. The structure of the alliance provides the
shareholders of both companies with a very powerful vehicle to
participate in the discovery of world-class gold deposits in
China," said Klein. Klein continued: "This strategic alliance,
combined with Sino Gold's upcoming secondary listing on the Hong
Kong Stock Exchange, will provide the ideal platform to grow and
develop Sino Gold into China's leading gold company." The companies
have signed a binding Heads of Agreement, the key terms of which
are the following: - A new entity will be formed which will be
equally funded by both parties. This is to be a wholly separate
entity from Sino Gold's other business development teams in China;
- All of China is included, except for Sino Gold's projects around
the Laizhishan Dome area near Jinfeng and White Mountain; - The
exploration undertaken by the new entity will be managed by Sino
Gold; - Gold Fields will manage the development and operation of
any new projects resulting from the alliance that meet the agreed
Gold Fields benchmark criteria; - Sino Gold has the right to
properties which do not meet the criteria referred to above; and -
Processes to facilitate technical co-operation have been defined,
such as the exchange of technical information and personnel. As
part of this strategic alliance, the parties have agreed that: -
Subject to the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board
(FIRB) of Australia, Sino Gold will place 6.5 million shares at a
7.5% premium to its 10 Day VWAP share price with Gold Fields,
increasing Gold Fields' ownership of Sino Gold from 13.9% to 17.4%;
- Gold Fields will nominate a director to the Sino Gold board; -
Subject to any regulatory approvals required, Gold Fields will be
entitled to pro-rata participation in future Sino Gold equity
issues, so that Gold Fields' holding in the Company is not diluted;
and - Gold Fields' will transfer all of its existing assets and
joint ventures in China into the new entity for an amount to be
agreed. About Gold Fields Gold Fields is one of the world's largest
unhedged gold producers, with annual gold production of
approximately 4.1 million ounces from mines in South Africa, Ghana,
Australia and Venezuela, as well as a developing mine at Cerro
Corona in Peru. The Company has ore reserves of 65 million ounces
and mineral resources of 179 million ounces. Gold Fields has its
primary listing on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange and
secondary listings on the NYSE, DIFX, LSE, Euronext in Paris and
Brussels, and on the Swiss Exchange. All of Gold Fields' operations
are ISO 14001 certified. For further information visit the Gold
Fields website: http://www.goldfields.co.za/ About Sino Gold Sino
Gold has been active in China since 1996. Its Jianchaling Mine
produced approximately 450,000 ounces of gold from 1998 to 2006.
The Company is now developing the Jinfeng Mine in Guizhou Province
that is expected to commence commercial gold production in the
March 2007 quarter. With resources of 4.0 million ounces and
reserves of 2.9 million ounces, Jinfeng will be a major, long-life
operation. Sino Gold has demonstrated capability to gain approvals
for, and to successfully develop, gold projects in China. Sino Gold
is a growth gold company that is actively pursuing a discovery and
acquisition strategy. With a "first mover" advantage, it holds a
strong competitive position in China. Visit
http://www.sinogold.com.au/ for further information on Sino Gold.
DATASOURCE: Gold Fields Limited and Sino Gold Limited CONTACT:
ENQUIRIES: Gold Fields: Media: Willie Jacobsz, +27-11-644-2460.
Investor relations: Nerina Bodasing, +27-11-644-2630; Cheryl
Martin, +303-796-8683. Sino Gold: Jake Klein on +61-2-8259-7000
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