JOHANNESBURG,
May 17, 2012 /CNW/ - Gold Fields
Limited (NYSE & JSE: GFI) today announced net earnings for the
March quarter of R2,082 million compared with R2,605 million in the
December quarter and R1,100 million in the March 2011 quarter. In US dollar terms net
earnings for the March quarter were US$268
million, compared with US$336
million in the December quarter and US$158 million in the March 2011 quarter.
March 2012 quarter
salient features:
- Group attributable equivalent gold production of 827,000
ounces;
- Total cash cost of US$870 per
ounce;
- Operating margin of 48 per cent and NCE margin of 24 per cent;
and
- Project pipeline continues to advance.
Statement by Nick
Holland, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields:
During the quarter, we regrettably had four fatal
accidents at our South African operations. Safety and health
remains the most important value in our Group and we will continue,
in partnership with the Safety Inspectorate of the Department of
Mineral Resources and with organised labour, to focus our efforts
on improving our safety performance. Five key areas can lead
to sustainable improvements in safety: engineering out risk;
ensuring compliance with standards and procedures; improving the
health of employees; continuous stakeholder engagement; and
behavioural based safety initiatives.
In the March 2012
quarter, Gold Fields reported attributable Group production of
827,000 gold equivalent ounces, similar to the corresponding
quarter a year ago (Q1 2011: 830,000 gold equivalent ounces) and 6
per cent lower than in the December
2011 quarter of 883,000 ounces. Production was seasonally
lower in the March quarter as it includes the extended Christmas
break. Despite the lower production, net earnings remained
robust benefiting from a stable gold price combined with continued
sound cost control.
Attributable gold production for the year ending
December 2012 is expected to be
approximately 3.5 million equivalent ounces.
The Group NCE increased by 2 per cent from R313,286
per kilogram (US$1,206 per ounce) in
the December quarter to R319,835 per kilogram (US$1,280 per ounce) in the March quarter.
This increase was as a result of higher operating costs and
lower production, partially offset by lower capital expenditure.
The Group reported a NCE margin of 24 per cent for the
March 2012 quarter, which was above
the short term objective of 20 per cent and broadly in line with
the longer term target of 25 per cent.
The March quarter saw steady progress on all of our
growth projects. The most significant development being the
US$110 million payment made on
20 March 2012 to exercise our option
to acquire a 40 per cent interest in the Far Southeast project in
the Philippines. The
decision to exercise the option earlier than originally planned was
linked to positive results from our due diligence and scoping
studies at Far Southeast. A pre-feasibility study, including
a significant 100,000 metre drilling programme, has commenced, and
will concentrate on infill-drilling the exploration target zone to
a level appropriate for resource declaration. We still have
the option to acquire an additional 20 per cent stake from Lepanto
Consolidated Mining Company for US$110
million.
In Peru, the
Chucapaca feasibility study is progressing well, with particular
emphasis on optimising recoveries, plant design as well as
permitting requirements. The study remains on track for
completion in the second half of 2012. The Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) is underway, with submission planned following
completion of the feasibility study. Extensive community
engagement programmes and activities are continuing.
At the Arctic Platinum project in Finland, activities during the quarter
included: resource drilling on the Suhanko North prospect, which
has the potential to add meaningful additional tonnes of PGE
mineralisation to the original Suhanko project of 140 million
tonnes; associated metallurgical test work; and the completion and
review of the amendment to the Suhanko Environmental Permit to
incorporate the Platsol hydro-metallurgical process was submitted
at the end of March 2012. An
additional EIA and mining lease application is expected to be
submitted later in 2012 to cover Suhanko North and other nearby
deposits. Our aim is to complete a pre-feasibility study on
the expanded project, including Suhanko North, by the end of 2012.
At the Damang Super-pit project in Ghana, all drilling activities were completed
and resource models finalised for execution of the pre-feasibility
study. All other activities, including engineering and
environmental work are scheduled for completion along with the
pre-feasibility study in the second half of 2012. The impact on the
project of recently gazetted tax changes, increasing the tax rate
from 25 to 35 per cent and the imposing of less favourable capital
allowances on the project, are being assessed.
During the quarter we published our Integrated
Annual Report for 2011, which includes our latest Mineral Resource
and Reserve Statement. Gold Fields has total attributable precious
metal and gold equivalent Mineral Reserves of 80.6 million ounces,
a 5 per cent increase in reserves after taking into account the
inventory mined during 2011. The Mineral Resource position in the
West Africa region increased by 46
per cent from 17.3 million ounces to 25.2 million ounces, net of
depletion, largely due to discoveries at the Greater Damang
project. The total Mineral Reserve in the West Africa region has increased by 21 per
cent, from 11.3 million ounces to 13.7 million ounces, net of mine
depletion. In the South American region, Cerro Corona's total gold equivalent Mineral
Reserve base improved by 15 per cent, from 5.3 million ounces to
6.1 million ounces, net of depletion, primarily due to the increase
in the capacity of the tailings storage facility from 99 million
tonnes to 130 million tonnes. The improved Mineral Reserve position
is in line with our long-term target of 5 million gold-equivalent
ounces per year either in production or in development by the end
of 2015.
Notes to editors
About Gold Fields
Gold Fields is one of the world's largest unhedged
producers of gold with attributable annualised production of 3.5
million gold equivalent ounces from eight operating mines in
Australia, Ghana, Peru
and South Africa. Gold Fields also
has an extensive and diverse global growth pipeline with four major
projects in resource development and feasibility, with construction
decisions expected in the next 18 to 24 months. Gold Fields
has total attributable gold equivalent Mineral Reserves of 80.6
million ounces and Mineral Resources of 217 million ounces. Gold
Fields is listed on the JSE Limited (primary listing), the New York
Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ Dubai Limited, Euronext in
Brussels (NYX) and the Swiss
Exchange (SWX).
Sponsor: J.P. Morgan Equities Limited
SOURCE Gold Fields Limited