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3.5.1 Introduction
The South Africa Region is the bedrock on which Gold Fields is built and accounts for 53% of our
attributable gold output. Gold Fields holds one of the dominant positions in the geographically unique
Witwatersrand Basin, the most prolific gold-producing region in the world. It is home to our developing and
fully mechanised South Deep project, as well as the more mature and conventionally operated Beatrix and
Kloof-Driefontein Complex (KDC) mines. KDC is South Africa’s largest mine by gold production and enjoys
Mineral Reserves of 20.2 million ounces at a grade of 6.5 grams a tonne. The South Deep project, the
most significant gold development project in South Africa, is set to be an efficient, safe, low cost and fully
mechanised operation, underpinned by a world class ore body. Once complete, South Deep will ensure the
Region remains a critical, long-term contributor to Group performance.
All of our mines in South Africa
are OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001
certified, and are fully compliant with
the International Cyanide Management
Code. The Mineral Resources and
Mineral Reserves are compliant with
the SAMREC 2007 Code.
Performance in C2010
Gold production in the South Africa
Region declined to 1.9 million ounces
in C2010 (C2009:
2.1 million ounces).
Gold production was steady at Beatrix
and consistently higher at South Deep,
but this did not offset lower production
at KDC. All our mines stabilised their
production performances as the year
progressed, with the NCE margin
(excluding South Deep) improving to
20% in the December 2010 quarter.
The Project Blueprint business
re-engineering programme saw
the consolidation of the Kloof,
Driefontein and the South Africa
Region management teams. Overall
employee numbers in South Africa
continued to decline as a result of
natural attrition, voluntary severance
and the replacement of non-essential
contracting services by internal staff.
Recent progress in safety performance
at our South African mines continued
in C2010 with fatalities declining
from 26 in C2009 to 17 last year.
However, much remains to be done
to achieve our long-term aim of Zero
Harm (p71-73).
Shareholders approved the terms of
our three empowerment transactions,
which include a landmark employee
share option plan. Our new order
mining right for South Deep was
granted and ensured that we
achieved our 2014 equity ownership
targets set out in the Mining Charter.
Outlook for 2011
The key target is to stabilise safe
production at an NCE margin of 20%
in the short-term (excluding South
Deep) and to move towards our
planned contribution of at least 2 to
2.3 million ounces to the Group Goal
of 5 million attributable ounces in
production or development by 2015.
Specific planned actions include:
- A further reduction in fatalities
and improved health and safety
indicators on C2010
- Achievement of production stability
at the KDC and Beatrix mines
- Continued development and
production ramp-up at South Deep
- Advancement of the ‘24 Hours in
the Life of a Gold Fields Employee’
wellbeing programme (p154)
- Increased mining flexibility
through mechanised ore reserve
development at the long life shafts
at KDC and Beatrix
- Further reduce power consumption
across the operations to offset
increasing power tariffs
- Increased representation of
Historically Disadvantaged South
Africans at middle and senior
management levels
Water quality and availability are
increasingly important issues in South
Africa. The map (right), prepared
by Maplecroft, highlights varying
sub-national levels of water stress in
different regions of the country.
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