No Caption

Chief Executive Officer Nick Holland said production could increase to between 3.5 million ounces and 3.7 million ounces of gold equivalent, and that the company expected total cash costs to rise by 8% to US$860/oz.

The company produced 3.49 million ounces at a cash cost of $767/oz for the year ended in December 2011, and 838,000 ounces for the fourth quarter.

By region, Gold Fields produced 433,000/oz in SA in the quarter, which accounted for just over half of its annual production, mainly due to the improvement in mining volumes at its KDC and Beatrix mines.

Its Australian operations reported a 2% rise in production to 172,000 ounces, due to improved quality of underground grade mined and processed.

Attributable production in west Africa, however, dropped largely due to the lower volumes processed at its Tarkwa mine, along with a drop in production at Damang mine in Ghana.

Production in South America also came in lower due to lower copper/gold prices.

Gold Fields announced that it intended to reach a target 5 million ounces per annum in 2015, and the company had entered into a process of developing a pipeline of projects to meet requirements.

The company announced that its capital expenditure programme at South Deep remained on track, and that it intended to scale up annual output to 700,000 ounces by 2015.

At the Asheba project in Ghana, Gold Fields announced that a follow-up drilling programme had commenced in November 2011, and that a total of 2,783 metres of reverse circulation and diamond drilling were completed on the two main target areas, and added that it was still negotiating with the Ghanaian government with regards to the proposed mining taxes.

The feasibility study into Chucapaca, in South America progressed according to schedule, and waste disposal strategies including site location options and management of potential acid forming materials were reviewed in the December 2011 quarter.

It added that preliminary pre-feasibility studies on the amenability of the process for the Suhanko project were completed, and that pilot scale test-work demonstrated the process could effectively recover copper, nickel, gold and PGE metals (platinum, palladium and rhodium) at an on-site processing facility.

The company said the mine intended to complete drilling at Suhanko North, and also deliver amenability tests on new resources at Platsol.