Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited
Company typePublic
JSE: GFI
NYSE: GFI (ADR)
IndustryGold mining
Founded1887; 138 years ago (1887) (as Gold Fields of South Africa)
1998; 27 years ago (1998) (merger with Gencor)
HeadquartersJohannesburg, South Africa
Number of locations
South Africa (one mine), Ghana (two mines), Australia (four mines), Peru (one mine), Canada (one project), Chile (one mine)
Key people
Yunus Suleman (chairperson)[1]
Mike Fraser (CEO)
Alex Dall (Interim CFO)
ProductsGold
Revenue$ 4.286 billion (FY 2022)[2]
$ 721.7 million (FY 2022)[2]
Number of employees
17,611 (FY 2018)[3]
Websitewww.goldfields.com

Gold Fields Limited (formerly The Gold Fields of South Africa) is one of the world's largest gold mining firms. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company is listed on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The firm was formed in 1998 with the amalgamation of the gold assets of Gold Fields of South Africa Limited and Gencor Limited. The company traces its roots back to 1887, when Cecil Rhodes founded Gold Fields of South Africa Limited. As of 2019, Gold Fields was the world's eighth-largest producer of gold.[4]

The company owns and operates mines in Australia, Chile, Ghana, Peru and South Africa, with one 50:50 JV project in Canada. Growth efforts are focused mainly on the regions where it currently operates and are mainly driven through brownfields exploration on its existing land positions and through mergers and acquisitions in the same regions.

Board of directors

  • Chairperson – Yunus Suleman

Executive directors

Operations

Australia

Ghana

Peru

  • Cerro Corona

South Africa

In 2012, Gold Fields Limited unbundled its subsidiary, GFI Mining South Africa Proprietary Limited, which was then renamed Sibanye Gold Limited, and consisted of the KDC (formerly Kloof) and Beatrix mines, as well as an array of support service entities in South Africa.[5][6] The three mines transferred from Gold Fields to Sibanye, later Sibanye-Stillwater, were:

  • Beatrix gold mine
  • KDC mine (formerly Kloof)
  • Driefontein mine

Chile

  • Salares Norte

Canada

  • Windfall project (50:50 JV with Osisko Mining)

In 2024, Gold Fields announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Osisko Mining to acquire all the common shares of Osisko Mining on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). This transaction, if approved by Osisko Mining shareholders, will give Gold Fields full control of the Windfall Project in Québec, Canada, currently jointly and equally owned and managed by Gold Fields and Osisko Mining.

Environment

In October 2001 a tailings dam ruptured at the company's Tarkwa Gold Mine in Ghana resulting in thousands of cubic metres of mine waste water spilling into the Asuman River and resulting in the death of significant marine life.[7] While acknowledging the cyanide spill the company stated at the time that the spill did not affect human health or safety.[8]

A further incident occurred in 2003 when water from an abandoned underground mine shaft, again at the company's Tarkwa Gold Mine, was identified as having seeped into the Asuman River sparking further fears of contamination.[9]

In July 2012 the company was directed by the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency to halt a gold-recovery plant at the Tarkwa Gold Mine because water discharged from the site required additional treatment.[10]

Bibliography

  • Gold Fields: A Centenary Portrait by Paul Johnson. Many black and white, colour plates of personnel and topography. Includes an image of Guy Carleton Jones, and refers to Consolidated Gold Fields and its subsidiary companies.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Gold Fields names Yunus Suleman as new chair from 2022". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Gold Fields Limited. Annual Financial Report including Governance Report 2022" (PDF). 31 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Gold Fields 2017 Integrated Annual Report" (PDF). Gold Fields. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  4. ^ Walker, Simon (February 2015), "Gold: new fundamentals", Engineering & Mining Journal, vol. 216, p. 34, n. 2..
  5. ^ Sibanye-Stillwater[permanent dead link‍] "Company Announcements", Sibanye-Stillwater, 29 November 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  6. ^ Minto, Rob "Gold Fields and Sibanye: low start", Financial Times, 11 February 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2018.]
  7. ^ "Ghana: Cyanide Spill Worst Disaster Ever in West African Nation". www.minesandcommunities.org. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Goldfields says no danger to human health during cyanide spill". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Ghana Gold Mine Spills into River Polluted in 2001". www.minesandcommunities.org. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  10. ^ Cooke, Carli (26 July 2012). "Gold Fields Halts Ghana Plant After Environment Agency Order". Bloomberg.
  11. ^ Published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson (London) in 1987 with ISBN 0-297-78967-8