Gold Fields Annual Report 2008
11
Total cash costs for the Group increased from R86,623 per kilogram
(US$374 per ounce) in F2007 to R111,315 per kilogram
(US$476 per ounce) in F2008.
However, Gold Fields is not only focusing on total cash costs but
also on Notional Cash Expenditure (NCE) per ounce. NCE is defined
as operating costs plus capital expenditure and is reported on a per
kilogram and per ounce basis. The objective is to provide the all-in
costs for the Group and for each operation before greenfields
exploration expenditure. The NCE per ounce is an important
measure as it determines how much free cash flow is generated
before taxation and greenfields exploration, which in turn addresses
the demand of the investing community to generate real returns,
rather than merely increasing resources, reserves and production
that does not necessarily create value.
One of Gold Fields’ key objectives is to reduce its NCE per ounce
and increase its free cash flow. The NCE for the Group for F2008
amounted to R186,088 per kilogram (US$796 per ounce) compared
with R135,379 per kilogram (US$585 per ounce) for F2007. These
figures include all capital expenditure for growth projects and were
high because of peak investment in growth projects. During F2007,
US$76 per ounce of the NCE of US$585 per ounce was spent on
new growth projects. During F2008 new growth projects accounted
for US$165 of the NCE of US$796 per ounce.
Net operating profit increased from R4,777 million (US$663 million)
in F2007 to R6,015 million (US$827 million) in F2008, with the Group
benefiting from the higher gold price in all currencies.
After accounting for taxation, sundry costs, exceptional items which
included the sale of Essakane and Choco 10, and restructuring costs
at South Deep, net earnings were R4,458 million (US$613 million) for
F2008, compared with R2,363 million (US$328 million) in the prior
year. Earnings excluding gains and losses on foreign exchange,
financial instruments, exceptional items and discontinued operations
amounted to R2,930 million (US$403 million) in F2008 compared
with R2,298 million (US$319 million) in F2007.
STRATEGY
Over the past six years Gold Fields has developed a simple yet
effective strategy premised on the three basic pillars of:
• Operational excellence;
• Growing Gold Fields; and
• Securing the future.
Shortly after I assumed the role of chief executive officer, the Group
executive committee and the Board engaged in a process to
determine if this strategy remained valid. The conclusion was that,
while the broad strategy remained robust and appropriate, a number
of strategic adjustments had to be made.
•
The first and most fundamental of these adjustments was the step
change in our approach to safety, described in the Health and
Safety section above.
•
The second adjustment relates to our approach to cost
management and the introduction of NCE as a new metric to drive
free cash flow in the Group, as described above. The completion
of our growth projects would increase our production profile,
improve our cash costs on a Group basis and, together with the
consequent lower capital expenditure, reduce our NCE per ounce.
•
The third adjustment relates to the Gold Fields franchise of “a few,
large, high quality, long life assets”, and our criteria for the selection
of growth projects to maintain this franchise. Previously our growth
strategy was driven by the “Rule of Fives” – five million ounce
deposits with potential for annual production of 500,000 ounces.
During the strategic review it was concluded that the shortage of
new five million ounce deposits, would make sustained growth
virtually unattainable, as very few such deposits are discovered
despite combined annual exploration expenditure of more than
US$4 billion by the industry. As a consequence it was decided
that, while we would continue to aspire to the “Rule of Fives”, we
would lower the hurdle for new projects to the “Rule of Two’s” as
described in the Exploration and Business Development section
on page 13 and 14. Allied to this we would be prepared to
consider projects with a higher risk profile, in return for superior
returns, which in turn could translate into a larger portfolio of
mines, as well as multi-commodity targets such as additional
copper-gold porphyries and gold-silver type deposits, capable of
relatively low cost operations.
• Gold Fields will, however, remain predominantly a gold company
but would be prepared to consider other metals, provided they
are mined in conjunction with gold. Only under exceptional
circumstances would Gold Fields consider mining other metals
with no contained gold.
In support of these adjustments, and in order to facilitate the release
of value implied by the underperformance of Gold Fields’ share price
during the past year, referred to in the Introduction on page 9, we
have put in place a short- and medium-term target for the Group.
Short-term target
Gold Fields aims, during the third quarter of F2009, to again be a four
million ounce producer on an annualised basis, at a NCE of
approximately US$725 per ounce of gold produced, provided, of
course, that our current assumptions on inflation hold true. This is
expected to be achieved, within this timeframe, through the
completion and ramp-up to full production of the Cerro Corona gold
mine in Peru, the CIL plant expansion at Tarkwa, the commissioning
of the new Belleisle and Cave Rocks underground mines at St Ives in
Australia, as well as the completion of the rehabilitation projects at
Driefontein, Kloof and South Deep, and the subsequent ramp-up of
production in South Africa back to an annualised rate of
approximately 2.3 million ounces.
Although Cerro Corona experienced a series of delays during its four
year construction, the first rock was milled in July 2008 and concentrate
shipments are scheduled to commence in September 2008. Steady
state managed production at an annualised rate of 375,000 ounces, at
a NCE of approximately US$587 per ounce, is expected to be achieved
during the third quarter of F2009. Over the life of the mine, NCE per
ounce is expected to be below US$400 per ounce in today’s money.
The Tarkwa CIL plant expansion will increase mill throughput capacity
from 450,000 tons per month to one million tons per month, and divert
material that would previously have gone to the heap leach pads, to the
plant. This will raise recoveries from approximately 70 to 95 per cent
and increase managed production at Tarkwa by approximately 80,000
ounces per annum to approximately 750,000 ounces per annum. It
needs to be borne in mind that over the past year, Cerro Corona and
Tarkwa consumed capital expenditure of US$438 million. At St Ives the
new Cave Rocks and Belleisle underground mines are scheduled to
reach full production by the end of 2008, adding approximately 60,000
ounces to Group production on an annual basis.
Medium-term target
The medium-term target is, within a three to four year period, to
reorganise, diversify and grow Gold Fields into a truly global gold
producer, with approximately one million ounces of gold equivalent
production, either in or close to production, from each of the South
American, West African and Australasian Regions, and
approximately 2.3 million ounces from the South African Region.
Overview