GOLD FIELDS - Q2 ended 30 June 2012

* Average daily spot price for the period used to calculate total equivalent gold ounces produced.

Gold produced increased from 36,900 ounces in the March quarter to 39,800 ounces in the June quarter. Copper production increased from 8,073 tonnes to 9,234 tonnes. Equivalent gold produced increased by 11 per cent from 76,500 ounces in the March quarter to 84,900 ounces in the June quarter mainly due to an increase in metal recoveries and a record throughput of 821 tonnes per hour achieved in the month of June.

Concentrate with a payable content of 38,100 ounces of gold was sold at an average price of US$1,591 per ounce and 8,900 tonnes of copper was sold at an average price of US$7,140 per tonne, net of treatment and refining charges. Total equivalent gold sales amounted to 81,200 ounces for the June quarter.

Tonnes mined increased from 3.17 million tonnes in the March quarter to 4.10 million tonnes in the June quarter due to an increase in volumes mined as a result of changes to the mine sequence schedule, necessitating an increase in waste volumes. Ore mined increased by 13 per cent from 1.80 million tonnes to 2.03 million tonnes. Gold yield at 0.8 grams per tonne and copper yield at 0.6 per cent were slightly higher than the 0.7 grams per tonne of gold and 0.5 per cent of copper achieved in the March quarter.

Ore processed at 1.67 million tonnes was similar to the March quarter. Gold head grade increased marginally from 1.12 grams per tonne to 1.13 grams per tonne and gold recovery increased from 64 per cent to 68 per cent. Copper head grade increased from 0.61 per cent in the March quarter to 0.68 per cent in the June quarter, with copper recovery increasing from 82 per cent to 85 per cent.

Operating costs, including gold-in-process movements, decreased from US$44 million (R341 million) in the March quarter to US$35 million (R282 million) in the June quarter, mainly due to an increase in concentrate stock on hand. Total cash cost decreased from US$534 per equivalent ounce to US$482 per equivalent ounce mainly due to lower operating costs, partly offset by lower revenue.

Operating profit decreased from US$99 million (R766 million) in the March quarter to US$76 million (R615 million) in the June quarter, as a result of lower revenue due to lower net metal prices and lower gold equivalent ounces sold.

Capital expenditure increased from US$17 million (R132 million) in the March quarter to US$21 million (R165 million) in the June quarter. The higher expenditure was due to construction activities at the tailings facility and the implementation of optimisation projects at the project plant.

Notional cash expenditure decreased from US$745 per equivalent ounce to US$708 per equivalent ounce, mainly due to the increase in equivalent ounces produced. The NCE margin decreased from 56 per cent in the March quarter to 48 per cent in the June quarter due to the lower revenue.

South America region