Safety Checks Carried Out on Winding Ropes Following South Deep Accident
May 02 2008 - 4:57AM
PR Newswire (US)
JOHANNESBURG, May 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gold Fields Limited
("Gold Fields") (NYSE, JSE, DIFX: GFI) reports today that
engineering and technical teams have been working during the night
and will continue this morning to carry out safety checks on all
winding ropes at all its mining operations in South Africa
following the tragic shaft accident at South Deep gold mine
yesterday in which nine people lost their lives. The thorough
testing of the winding ropes is expected to be completed by
tomorrow, (Saturday). It follows a directive from the Department of
Minerals and Energy (DME) that all winding was to cease until the
integrity of all winding ropes had been assessed and found to be
safe for winding purposes. Although the directive, known as a
Section 54, specifically mentioned Gold Fields' South Deep, Kloof,
and Driefontein gold mines on the West Rand, winding ropes at the
company's Beatrix mine in the Free State have also been examined.
Nick Holland, the CEO of Gold Fields said: "The safety of our
people is paramount. We lost nine of our colleagues in yesterday's
terrible accident. If we cannot mine safely, we will not mine. We
will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to find the reason for
the accident and will co-operate fully with the DME." About Gold
Fields Gold Fields Limited is one of the world's largest unhedged
producers of gold with attributable production of more than four
million ounces per annum from eight operating mines in South
Africa, Ghana and Australia. A ninth mine, the Cerro Corona
Gold/Copper mine in Peru, is expected to commence production by mid
2008 at an initial rate of approximately 400,000 gold equivalent
ounces per annum. The company has total attributable ore reserves
of 92 million ounces and mineral resources of 252 million ounces.
Gold Fields employs some 53,000 permanent employees across its
operations and is listed on the JSE Limited South Africa (primary
listing), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Dubai
International Financial Exchange (DIFX). All of Gold Fields'
operations are ISO14001 certified. For more information please
visit the Gold Fields website at http://www.goldfields.co.za/.
DATASOURCE: Gold Fields Limited CONTACT: Enquiries: Andrew
Davidson, Mobile +27-0826677203
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