JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, October 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gold Fields Limited (JSE:GFI)(NYSE:GFI) today launched its Annual Report for the 2005 Financial Year together with the updated Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve Statement under the banner 'Gold Fields - the complete gold company'. The report was mailed to shareholders on Thursday, 29 September 2005. Chairman's Message In his message to shareholders contained in the Annual Report, Chairman Chris Thompson stated, "Despite the distractions of the year, the company's performance was remarkable; a testament to the strength of our management and asset quality. There can be no doubt that Gold Fields' operations are professionally and competently managed. Mining operations are well planned and engineered, accounts are conservatively struck and internal controls increasingly more effective." He went on to identify the three principal strategic issues facing the Group, "First, despite substantial inward investment over the past decade, the South African mines are mature, getting deeper and face declining grades and rising costs. Gold Fields is bound to become increasingly international, using its South African base as the platform from which to grow globally.' "The second strategic issue for Gold Fields is the difficulty in finding value-adding growth opportunities elsewhere in the world. Inflation in capital, operating and transport costs generally is affecting the economics of new projects almost everywhere which, when combined with the social and political risks of entering countries where gold is found, makes growth a challenge.' "Third is meeting the demands for transformation in South Africa embodied principally in the Mining Charter and BEE movements. The transaction with Mvelaphanda remains a landmark example of a responsible BEE transaction. A significant challenge for the next few years will be for Gold Fields to meet the target for transformational representation in management. Also, although Gold Fields has not yet received its new order mining rights, it is in good compliance with the criteria set by the Mining Charter and anticipates that the new order mining rights will be issued in F2006." Chief Executive's Review Summarising the 2005 financial year, Chief Executive Officer Ian Cockerill described it as "Challenging but successful, with the Group delivering a sound operating performance. The fluctuating rand/US dollar exchange rate mitigated against optimising our rand income, while the attempted hostile takeover bid by Harmony was successfully defeated. The international expansion projects at Tarkwa and St Ives were completed ahead of expectation and their benefits are expected to make a significant contribution to Gold Fields' bottom line. The South African mines have been successfully repositioned with a strategy aimed at improving quality volumes and have recorded an overall robust cost performance since September 2003.' He continued, "I would like to pay tribute to all Gold Fields' stakeholders who stood by us during the Harmony hostile bid, be they employees or investors. We undertake to justify their confidence in Gold Fields by improving the Group's performance and strengthening our shareholders' investment." Reserves and Resources The annual attributable reserve depletion by Gold Fields was 4.5 million ounces of gold during F2005 and the Group remains intent on realising an additional 1.5 million ounces per annum of production from its international operations by the end of 2009. As at the end of June 2005, Gold Fields had attributable Reserves of 64.8 million ounces, which is 14.2 million ounces less than in the previous year. The reduction of 14.2 million ounces includes the 10.9 million ounces associated with the Eastern Boundary Area (EBA), which was reclassified to resource status pending re-engineering, as well as the total mining depletion of 4.5 million referred to above. The reclassification of the EBA from reserve to resource was as a result of new geological information acquired during the year. Outlook Looking forward to F2006, Ian Cockerill noted, "We expect the rand to remain strong during F2006 given the robustness of the local economy and the continued weakness of the US dollar. Input costs will increase as a result of the higher wage environment and rising energy costs, particularly petroleum based products. Costs are therefore expected to remain under pressure. However, there are indications that the dollar gold price will continue its secular upward trend." Objectives Finally, Ian Cockerill set out the Group's main objectives for F2006: - Raising safety performance by a further 10% towards the global standard benchmark - Increasing gold production beyond 4.3 million ounces - Group costs targeted at or below R66,000 per kilogram - South African costs targeted at or below R70,000 per kilogram - Productivity improvements of 10% in the South African operations to reach 4.3 square metres per total employee costed - Completion of the Cerro Corona feasibility study and, if positive, commencing development - The replenishment of depleted ounces through exploration success or the acquisition of new ounces. DATASOURCE: Gold Fields Limited CONTACT: Enquires: South Africa, Willie Jacobsz, Tel +27-11-644-2630 Fax +27-11-484-0639 Nerina Bodasing, Tel +27-11-644-2460 Fax +27-11-484-0639 North America, Cheryl A Martin, Tel +1-303-796-8683 Fax +1-303-796-8293

Copyright