Life extension through near-mine exploration

Near-mine (brownfields) exploration is key to Gold Fields' strategy and played an important role in establishing a robust production profile across the regions. We believe brownfields exploration is an important foundation for regional growth, and we will continue to invest in it as it offers one of the lowest-cost opportunities for adding ounces and improving cash-flow, specifically on a per-share basis. This is particularly true for our Australian assets, where brownfields exploration is an essential ongoing expense when mining orogenic ore bodies.

The value in near-mine exploration lies in knowledge of the ore bodies, which enables our exploration teams to identify extensions or additional ore sources in the mining tenement. It also enables us to leverage our operational infrastructure, such as regional management teams. Finally, brownfields exploration enables Gold Fields to take advantage of our operational capabilities, including our proven ability to develop and mine orogenic ore bodies.

In 2022, Gold Fields spent US$107.0m (US$100.0m excluding Asanko) on brownfields exploration (2021: US$104.4m (US$97.7m excluding Asanko)), which supported a total of 420km (354km excluding Asanko) of drilling (2021: 386km (335km excluding Asanko)). The majority of this spending – US$56m (A$81m) (2021: US$59m (A$79m)) – was incurred at our Australian mines. Encouragingly, the Australian region as a whole managed to replace Mineral Reserves post-depletion during 2022, with increases at St Ives and Agnew offsetting declines at Granny Smith and Gruyere. Our exploration spend in Chile was US$31.9m in 2022 (2021: US$27.7m) and US$16.1m (US$9.4m excluding Asanko) in Ghana (2021: US$13.4m (US$6.6m excluding Asanko)).

For 2023, we have budgeted US$93m (excluding Asanko) for near-mine exploration and Mineral Resource conversion, of which US$58xm (A$83m) will be at our Australian operations, US$24m at Salares Norte in Chile and US$5m at our Ghanaian mines.

Following are details of the near-mine exploration activities at our Australian operations:

ST IVES

At St Ives, total 2022 exploration spend amounted to A$35.4m (US$25m). Mineral Reserves increased by 12% to 2.7Moz, net of depletion, with the Invincible complex continuing to grow, both laterally and at depth.

Mineral Reserve Reconciliation

Gold (koz)

mineral-reserve-reconciliation-st-ives

AGNEW

We spent A$24m (US$16.8m) on near-mine exploration at Agnew during 2022. Encouragingly, Agnew managed to replace Mineral Reserves after depletion again during the year, with Mineral Reserves increasing by 8% to 1.1Moz.

The enhanced focus on exploration over the past few years is starting to yield extremely encouraging results, and Agnew's outlook is increasingly positive.

Mineral Reserve Reconciliation

Gold (koz)

mineral-reserve-reconciliation-agnew

GRANNY SMITH

Total exploration spend at Granny Smith amounted to A$18.4m (US$12.7m) in 2022. Mineral Reserves decreased by 4% post-depletion to 2.1Moz.

Mineral Reserve Reconciliation

Gold (koz)

mineral-reserve-reconciliation-granny-smith

GRUYERE

Gold Fields spent A$2.9m (US$2.0m) in near-mine exploration at Gruyere in 2022. The mine's attributable Mineral Reserves (50% basis) decreased by 9% to 2.0Moz, in line with expectations and the life-of-mine plan.

Mineral Reserve Reconciliation

Gold (koz)

mineral-reserve-reconciliation-gruyere