INVESTORS AND MEDIA 
In the news
Despite extraordinary inflation and a desire for safe-haven assets, gold has had a poor year, with counters deep in the red. Pan African Resources and Gold Fields, however, are delivering positive results.
Among the miners of the yellow stuff, Pan African Resources and Gold Fields have delivered positive shareholder returns over the past year. The other local counters are deep in the red. Interestingly, the strategies couldn’t be more different at those two businesses.
Pan African Resources is quietly getting on with it, having just achieved record production in the year ended June 2022. The strategic focus has been to reduce senior debt, something that has been achieved with great success. Debt (measured in US dollars) is down over 70% in the past 12 months, which creates genuine value for shareholders.
Gold Fields is playing the far riskier game, attempting a landmark transaction in the form of a proposed merger with Yamana Gold. The idea is that this brings high-quality, long-life assets into the group that are in attractive jurisdictions. South African investors are fearful of global mergers, having been burnt many times before.
For now, Pan African Resources has taken the lead in the sector when measured over 12 months, as Gold Fields suffered a major drop in value after announcing the Yamana deal.
