2024
Gold Fields Limited
Integrated Annual Report
Production and cost performance
Group operational performance
The operating environment remained volatile for gold producers during 2024, despite the inflationary headwinds starting to ease during the course of the year.
Gold Fields had a challenging H1 2024, with severe weather conditions and operational challenges at some of our mines impacting delivery. In addition to underperformance by Gruyere, St Ives, South Deep and Cerro Corona during H1 2024, the slower-than-planned ramp-up at Salares Norte due to the early onset of winter resulted in Gold Fields reducing our guidance twice for 2024.
There was significant improvement during H2 2024. The mines impacted by weather-related or operational challenges during the first half of the year recovered during H2 2024, contributing to Gold Fields posting a strong set of second-half results. Second-half production was 26% higher than in H1 2024, and our AISC decreased by 12%, enabling the Group to meet the revised full-year guidance for both production and costs.
South Deep had a particularly strong second half as the team addressed the backfill leakage and rehandling issues experienced in H1 2024 and transitioned into higher-grade areas.
St Ives also recorded material improvement in H2 2024, with production increasing by 38% from H1 2024, as we completed developing the Swiftsure and Invincible Footwall South open pits, which started contributing to the mining mix.
Group attributable gold-equivalent production for 2024 was 10% lower year-on-year at 2,071koz (2023: 2,304koz, including Asanko), compared to revised guidance of 2,050koz – 2,150koz. The lower production was driven by the challenges faced in H1 2024.
Group AIC increased by 24% to US$1,873/oz in 2024 (2023: US$1,512/oz). The year-on-year increase is mainly due to a 10% decrease in gold sold (US$144/oz), additional gold inventory charges (US$85/oz), higher sustaining capex(US$68/oz), an increase in royalties in line with the higher gold prices (US$12/oz) and an increase in operating costs (US$48/oz).
AISC for the year amounted to US$1,629/oz (2023: US$1,295oz), in the middle of revised guidance of US$1,580/oz – US$1,670/oz.
Other salient financial features during 2024 included the following:
- Royalty expenses increased by 28% to US$148m
- The Group's taxation charge increased by 50% to US$697m from US$465m in 2023
- Total capex increased by 12% to US$1,183m
- No impairments were recorded in 2024
Considering the above, attributable profits for 2024 totalled US$1,245m – a 77% increase from the US$703m reported in 2023 – while normalised earnings increased by 36% to US$1,227m (2023: US$900m).
Despite the operational challenges, the gold price provided a strong tailwind to our performance. The average gold price received during 2024 improved to US$2,418/oz, a 25% increase from the average price of US$1,942/oz in 2023.
The Australian Dollar and South African Rand remained fairly stable against the US Dollar during 2024, allowing our Australian mines and South Deep to realise the benefit of the higher US Dollar gold price. The Australian Dollar remained flat at A$1/US$0.66, while the South African Rand strengthened by 1% to average R18.33/US$1 during 2024.
The political backdrop in some of Gold Fields' operating countries remained volatile during 2024, with peaceful elections held in two of the Group's key operating jurisdictions – Ghana and South Africa.
However, in Ghana, ahead of the national elections in December 2024, negotiations with the government around the proposed Tarkwa/ Iduapriem JV with AngloGold Ashanti progressed slower than anticipated. Despite constructive engagement, we did not obtain the requisite government approvals for the proposed JV before the elections. Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti continue to believe combining Tarkwa and Iduapriem into a single managed entity is compelling, given that it is anticipated to extend LOM, increase production and lower costs, thereby creating value for all stakeholders.
Engagements with newly elected government ministers have commenced with the hope of obtaining approval for the JV. However, at the same time, we continue to pursue improvements to Tarkwa.
After experiencing several delays since construction began – driven
by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, adverse weather conditions,
supply chain constraints and construction labour scarcity –
construction of the Salares Norte plant was completed in early in
2024. Commissioning of the plant started during Q1 2024, and an
important milestone was met when first gold was poured on 28 March
2024. However, after commencing the ramp-up of the plant, severe
winter conditions in
mid-April 2024 froze material in the circuit and
resulted in the planned ramp-up being put on hold.
Much of the winter period (Q2 and Q3 2024) was spent unfreezing and purging material in the primary circuits. The Salares Norte team was able to safely restart the ramp-up at the end of September 2024 and the mine produced 45koz-eq during Q4 2024.
Salares Norte is expected to ramp-up to steady-state levels by Q4 2025. We expect the mine to produce 325koz-eq – 375koz-eq in 2025.
We provide a detailed analysis of our financial performance in the management's discussion and analysis of the Group's Annual Financial Statements in the 2024 Annual Financial Report. The consolidated income statement, statement of financial position and cash-flow statement is also included in our 2024 Annual Financial Report.
| 2025 guidance | 2024 actual1 | 2024 guidance (revised) | 2023 actual | |||||
| Production | AIC | Production | AIC | Production | AIC | Production | AIC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Moz) | (US$/oz) | (Moz) | (US$/oz) | (Moz) | (US$/oz) | (Moz) | (US$/oz) | |
| Group | 2.250 – 2.450 | 1,780 – 1,930 | 2.071 | 1,873 | 2.050 – 2.150 | 1,820 – 1,910 | 2.304 | 1,512 |
| 1 | Excluding Asanko |
Capital expenditure
2024 was another year of significant capex for Gold Fields, driven primarily by project capex of US$246m and ramp-up at Salares Norte. The Group maintained capex levels that, we believe, are important to ensure the longevity of the portfolio. Total capex increased to US$1,183m, a 12% increase on the US$1,055m spent in 2023. This comprised sustaining capex of US$849m and project capital of US$334m.
The increase in sustaining capex is mainly attributable to increased expenditure at Gruyere and St Ives. Gruyere's capex was driven by pre-stripping of stages four and five of the Gruyere pit, while St Ives capex increased due to pre-stripping of the Invincible Footwall South and Swiftsure open pits, together with increased development and infrastructure capital at the Invincible Underground complex.
Country-specific capex was as follows:
- Australia: Capex at our Australian mines rose to A$660m (US$436m) in 2024 (2023: A$445m (US$296m)), mainly due to increased stripping and underground development at Gruyere and St Ives, and initial capital spent on the St Ives renewables project
- South Africa: Capex at South Deep increased by 19% to R2,046m (US$112m) in 2024 (2023: R1,717m (US$93m)). The major spending items related to CAS equipment and technology investment, major component replacements and fleet refurbishments, as well as new mine development
- Ghana: Total capex (excluding Asanko) decreased by 5% to US$211m in 2024 (2023: US$221m), driven by a drop in infrastructure investment at Tarkwa
2025 guidance
We expect Group attributable gold-equivalent production to range between 2.25Moz – 2.45Moz in 2025. AISC is expected to be between US$1,500/oz – US$1,650/oz, with AIC expected to be between US$1,780/oz – US$1,930/oz. Included in non-sustaining capex for 2025 is US$48/oz for the renewable power project at St Ives and C$403m (US$285m) at the Windfall project in Canada. Excluding the St Ives renewables project, the Windfall project and other corporate projects, AIC is guided to be between US$1,625/oz – US$1,775/oz in 2025.
We expect total 2025 Group capex to be US$1.49bn – US$1.55bn. Sustaining capital is expected to be US$940m – US$970m, driven largely by:
- Increased capital waste stripping at Gruyere and Tarkwa
- Underground development at Granny Smith
