Gold Fields triggered a $1.4bn investment at its Damang mine in Ghana to extend the life of the operation and bring it closer to its production target of 1-million ounces a year in West Africa. The decision came after an agreement with the Ghanaian government in March to lower corporate tax and royalty payments, a development that would have saved Gold Fields $33m at its two mines in the country in 2015. The agreement was critical to the R19.5bn investment in the country. Gold Fields has a market capitalisation of R47.5bn, about 2.5 times that of this single investment. "The agreement was key, because without it, it would have been tough to recapitalise the mine," Alfred Baku, the head of Gold Fields’ West Africa region, said on Monday. In its third-quarter production update, Gold Fields, which mines most of its gold in Australia, said it had decided to reinvest in Damang to extend its life by eight years to 2024 and extract 1.56-million ounces of gold at an all-in cost of $950/oz. ...
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