Gold Fields reported a slight drop in production in a quarterly update on Thursday, though the South Deep mine in Gauteng delivered a strong performance.
Gold production retreated by 1.5% year on year in the three months to end-September and 3.9% quarter on quarter to 597,000oz.
However, the South Deep mine, near Johannesburg, delivered a strong quarter, with gold production up 2.32% to 87,900oz.
“South Deep has been tracking well against its production targets throughout the year. As a result, the team has revised gold production guidance to 321,500oz for the year ending December 2022,” CEO Chris Griffith said.
The previous guidance was 308,600oz-311,800oz.
The overall guidance for the group remains unchanged at 2.25-2.29 million ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $1,140/oz-$1,180/oz (R20,925/oz-R21,659/oz).
South Deep also benefited from construction being wrapped up on a 50MW solar project, which has generated 8.3GWh of electricity since August.
Meanwhile, the miner, valued at R127.32bn on the JSE, said it is making “good progress” in its bid for Canada’s Yamana Gold ahead of its general meeting on November 22.
Gold Fields has mounted a defence against the detractors of its $6.7bn (R122.8bn) bid for Yamana Gold, as it waits to see whether the two companies’ shareholders will vote to approve a deal that will create the world’s fourth-largest gold producer.
Three quarters of Goldfields’ shareholders and two thirds of Yamana’s will have to say yes for the all-share deal to go ahead.
The potential tie-up comes as Gold Fields and other mining companies look for other revenue sources beyond the traditional SA market where ore grades have been declining while costs have escalated.
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