Introduction

Introduction

Gold Fields (GFI) is a leading international unhedged gold mining company with attributable, annualised production of  >2 million ounces (Moz) of gold and >60 million pounds (Mlb) of copper from a portfolio of eight operating assets and a number of exploration projects, grouped into four regions.

The Australia region consists of the St Ives, Granny Smith, Agnew and Darlot operations in Australia, as well as the FSE project in the Philippines. The Americas region comprises the Cerro Corona mine in Peru and the Salares Norte project in Chile. The South Deep Gold Mine is the standalone operation in the South Africa region while the Tarkwa and Damang mines in Ghana comprise the West Africa region.

The Salares Norte project in Chile continues to demonstrate potential for the generation of future value and with a focus on realising this value, it remains a key growth asset in the portfolio. Divestment of ‘non-core’ projects is ongoing. Woodjam in Canada was disposed of in August 2015 and the Arctic Platinum Project (“APP”) in Finland has been earmarked for disposal.

Gold Fields’ Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve strategy is centred on cash flow, profitability and return on investment. Strategic priorities include:

  • Build a quality portfolio of productive mines through active portfolio management and operational efficiencies;
  • Intensify investment in brownfields exploration and Mineral Resource generation to ensure ongoing Mineral Reserve replacement and operational flexibility;
  • Growing through value accretive acquisitions and near-mine exploration;
  • Focusing on quality, cash-accretive ounces and minimising marginal mining;
  • Divesting growth projects that are not optimally aligned with the Company’s business objectives;
  • Ensuring a strong sustainable development underpin, with rigorous quality control on environmental compliance and an emphasis on water and power security; and
  • Building trust through strong relationships in the communities where the Company operates, based on Shared Value creation, aimed at supporting community development.
How to read this Integrated Annual Report:
Integrated Annual Report Annual Financial Report Note: For abbreviations refer to page 136 and for glossary of terms refer to
page 137 – ‘Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Supplement 2015.
Integrated Annual Report   Annual Financial Report            

In anticipation of the current downturn in the gold price, steps had already been initiated to gear the business toward protecting the viability of operations and building a platform for the delivery of long-term cash flow and growth in shareholder value. Importantly, the focus on cash flow and efficient capital spend has not compromised our ability to take advantage of longer-term optionality at the operations, allowing the portfolio to remain leveraged to future gold price fluctuations.

Key initiatives include:

  • Using a long-term reserve gold price of US$1,300/oz and US$3.0/lb for copper with an acceptable free cash flow margin to ensure the mine plans are robust and resilient to lower metal prices in the short to medium term. To support this, a reserve gold price of US$1,200/oz and US$2.7/lb for copper is used in the short term (2016/2017)
  • Based on metal prices of US$1,500/oz for gold and US$3.5/lb for copper, surface Mineral Resources are constrained using open pit shells, while underground Mineral Resources are spatially constrained within estimated mining volumes. This approach is adopted to eliminate the inclusion of non-contiguous mineralisation from Mineral Resource estimates
  • Minimising marginal mining at all the operations
  • Committing to continued nearmine exploration to drive the development of a healthy pipeline of high-quality brownfield projects that will, over time, deliver the next generation of mines and further enhance overall cash returns
  • Rationalising capital expenditure without compromising operational flexibility and the future integrity of the assets

The Gold Fields Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve guiding principle is to ensure integrity, transparency and materiality in reporting, compliance with public regulatory codes and internal standards, and to inform all stakeholders on the status of the Group’s fundamental asset base.

The information in this report is presented on a Group and regional basis, summarising the changes and current status of each operation and exploration project. This report should be read in conjunction with the Integrated Annual Report (“IAR”), which provides additional information regarding the operations and their financial performance.

Important notices

  1. All Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve figures reported are 100% managed by Gold Fields unless otherwise stated.
  2. Mineral Resources are reported inclusive of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources include stability pillars when appropriate (December 2014 statement numbers are shown in brackets).
  3. The Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves are estimated at a point in time and will be affected by changes in the gold price, US Dollar currency exchange rates, permitting, legislation, costs and operating parameters.
  4. Rounding-off of figures in this report may result in minor computational discrepancies. Where this occurs, it is not deemed significant.
  5. All references to tonnes (t) are metric units.
  6. The 31 December 2015 Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve figures are net of 2015 production depletion.
  7. Locations on maps are for indication only.
  8. All metals (gold, platinum, palladium, silver, copper and nickel) are reported individually and not as metal equivalents unless alternatively specified.