Gold Fields’ South Deep plan revealed

GOLD FIELDS yesterday announced a rise in profits and a long-awaited plan to make its South Deep mine profitable, with a production target of 500 000 ounces a year. Gold Fields’ last South African asset, South Deep, is a mechanised mine which has presented operational challenges in an unforgiving geology 3km beneath the surface. In 2015, the company scrapped production and cost targets for the operation, with a focus on getting it to break even while finding new methods to mine the rich ore body. The aim now is for 500 000 ounces a year, down from previous targets of 700 000 and 650 000 ounces, and the mine generated cash of $12 million (R156.48m) in 2016 from 290 000 ounces. Gold Fields’ global output was 2.146 million ounces. Chief executive Nick Holland said new methods at South Deep meant bigger rigs could be used for multiple tasks, eliminating cumbersome steps and making the operation more efficient. “These are bigger drill rigs that do everything,” he said. Efficiency is being enhanced by making bigger cuts in the ore body. “So for every metre advanced, you are getting more tons.” There has also been a drive to get the critical skills needed for deep-level, mechanised mining, and Gold Fields said most of those positions had been filled. The company said it would spend a growth capital of R2.280 billion on underground infrastructure at South Deep over the next six years, peaking at R582 million in 2019. South Africa, with the world’s deepest mines, has more than a century of experience to extract ore far below the surface. – Reuters