JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 1, 2009 (PRNewswire-FirstCall) -- Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) (JSE, NYSE, NASDAQ Dubai: GFI) today confirmed that production and costs for Q1 F2010 is in line with the guidance provided on 6 August 2009. Attributable production for the quarter was approximately 906koz, while total cash cost and Notional Cash Expenditure (NCE1) for the Group are expected to be approximately US$590/oz and US$835/oz respectively, despite the Rand exchange rate achieved during the quarter being stronger than the rate used in the guidance.
South Africa Region
Q1 F2010 production from the South Africa Region was approximately 16,385kg (527koz), compared with 16,447kg (529koz) achieved in Q4 F2009, with the individual mines performing as follows:
- Driefontein produced approximately 5,892kg (190koz);
- Kloof produced approximately 5,024kg (161koz);
- Beatrix produced approximately 3,437kg (111koz); and
- South Deep produced approximately 2,032 (65koz).
West Africa Region
Q1 F2010 production from the West Africa Region increased marginally to 226koz, compared with 218koz achieved in Q4 F2009, with the individual mines performing as follows:
- Tarkwa produced approximately 175koz; and
- Damang produced approximately 51koz.
Australasia Region
Q1 F2010 production from the Australasia Region decreased marginally to 146koz, compared with 154koz achieved in Q4 F2009, with the individual mines performing as follows:
- St Ives produced approximately 100koz; and
- Agnew produced approximately 46koz.
South America Region
Cerro Corona in Peru had another strong quarter with production, on a gold equivalent basis, increasing marginally to 88koz, compared with 84koz achieved in Q4 F2009.The 88koz produced in Q1 F2010 comprises 33koz of gold and 9 tons of copper.
Nick Holland, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields, said:
"Our results for Q1 F2010 will be broadly in line with guidance."
"We are particularly pleased with the good progress achieved during Q1 F2010 at South Deep and Beatrix in South Africa, and at Tarkwa in Ghana. Beatrix continued the turn-around achieved during the previous quarter by reporting a further 8% increase in production to 111koz. South Deep continued to build up towards its F2010 target of 300koz for the year by reporting a further 25% improvement in production to 65koz. Tarkwa achieved its guidance of 175koz, despite the impact of wage negotiations late in the quarter.
