On 3 June 2009, Gold Fields Limited reached agreement to sell its 19.9% stake in Sino Gold Mining Limited to Eldorado Gold Corporation for a total consideration of approximately US$282 million payable in Eldorado shares which were received on 27 July 2009. Gold Fields received a share exchange ratio of 48 Eldorado shares for every 100 Sino Gold shares, which resulted in Gold Fields holding 27,824,654 Eldorado shares or approximately 7% of the outstanding shares of Eldorado on a fully diluted basis.

In addition, Gold Fields holds a top-up right for a period of 18 months, which will apply should Eldorado purchase an additional 5% or more of the outstanding shares of Sino Gold and the sellers in that transaction realise a consideration ratio in excess of the share exchange ratio of 0.48 Eldorado shares per Sino Gold share received by Gold Fields.

On 3 September 2009, Gold Fields disposed of its holding in Eldorado for a total consideration of CAD323 million (approximately US$293 million).

When Gold Fields acquired St Ives in late 2001, the total consideration included the royalty, which was subsequently acquired by subsidiaries of Morgan Stanley Bank. The royalty comprised two parts (i) a payment equal to 4% of the revenue from all future gold produced by St Ives; and (ii) provided that the gold price exceeds A$600/oz, a payment equal to 10% of the revenue difference between the spot gold price expressed in Australian dollars per ounce and a price of A$600/oz calculated on all future ounces produced by St Ives. Both components of the royalty were payable on all future production from St Ives and thus presented an uncapped liability.

The punitive impact of the royalty on the costs of St Ives, which equated to approximately A$100 per ounce at current gold prices, has become clear over the past year both in terms of its adverse impact on the operating margin of the mine, as well as St Ives’ ability to convert further ounces into Reserves.