BS: Gold Fields expects 13% increase in production
GOLD Fields said yesterday that it expected attributable gold production for the June quarter to be about 895000oz, a 13% increase from the previous three months but a slight fall from the prior-year period’s figure of 906000oz.
The estimate is towards the upper limit of guidance given last month, which predicted production for the quarter of between 875000oz and 900000oz.
CEO Nick Holland told Business Day that the decline was of the order of “a rounding error, to all intents and purposes”.
He said the group’s production for the year so far was likely to be about 3,51-million ounces.
That would represent a rise of about 3% from last year’s total, but would remain shy of the figure of 3,64-million ounces produced in the 2008 financial year.
Mr Holland said it was important to note that Gold Fields was set to achieve an annual increase in production at a time when the country’s gold production was declining.
The South Deep mine was on track to reach an annual production rate of 800000oz a year by the end of 2014, he said.
