GOLD FIELDS RESULTS I 4
increase in operating costs and higher capital expenditure. NCE
excluding the funding of South Deep increased from R272,250 per
kilogram (US$1,213 per ounce) in the March quarter to R280,986 per
kilogram (US$1,289 per ounce) in the June quarter. The NCE margin
excluding South Deep was 15 per cent in the June quarter compared
with 13 per cent in the March quarter.
At the West Africa region, NCE decreased from US$938 per ounce to
US$885 per ounce and the NCE margin increased from 32 per cent to
41 per cent due to a decrease in operating costs and lower capital
expenditure.
At the South America region, NCE decreased from US$537 per ounce
in the March quarter to US$526 per ounce in the June quarter due to
decreased operating costs. The NCE margin increased from 61 per
cent to 62 per cent.
At the Australasia region, NCE increased from A$1,035 per ounce
(US$1,038 per ounce) in the March quarter to A$1,195 per ounce
(US$1,265 per ounce) in the June quarter due to increased operating
costs and increased capital expenditure, resulting in an NCE margin of
16 per cent compared with 26 per cent in the March quarter.
Balance sheet (Investments and net debt)
Investments decreased from R1,079 million (US$160 million) at 31
December 2010 to R1,013 million (US$147 million) at 30 June 2011.
This was mainly due to Mvela Resources unbundling the 856,330
shares held, back to Gold Fields. The Group reclassified these shares
as Treasury shares which are accounted for under shareholders equity.
The cash balance decreased from R5,464 million (US$810 million) at
the end of the December quarter to R4,345 million (US$631 million) at
the end of the June quarter.
Net debt (long-term loans plus the current portion of long-term loans
less cash and deposits) increased from R3,974 million (US$589 million)
in the December quarter to R10,208 million (US$1,482 million) in the
June quarter, as a result of borrowings to fund the buy-out of minority
shareholders in La Cima and Ghana.
Detailed and operational review
Cost and revenue optimisation initiatives through
Business Process Re-engineering
The Business Process Re-engineering programme (BPR) commenced
during the second half of calendar 2010. The BPR involves a review of
the mines’ underlying organisational structures as well as the
operational production processes from the stope to the mill. The
objective is to introduce a new business blueprint, together with an
appropriate organisational structure, which will support sustainable gold
output at an NCE margin of 20 per cent in the short to medium term
and 25 per cent in the longer term.
South Africa region
The BPR underpins the suite of M projects which were established
during financial 2008 to optimise costs and revenue over a three year
period.
Stoping full potential (Project 1M)
Project 1M is a productivity initiative that aims to improve quality mining
volumes by increasing the face advance by between 5 and 10 per cent
per annum. The BPR Stoping full potential project aims to enable the
delivery of full potential at every workface by introducing standardised
reporting and practices, and eliminating constraints.
The BPR Stoping full potential project aims to leverage advance per
blast to drive quality-volume and address the key constraints which
affect productivity on a shaft by shaft basis, including effective face
times, logistics in-flow and out-flow models and mining cycles.
This is being achieved through the following key improvement
initiatives:
·
Implementation of a daily performance management routine and a
suite of tools to minimise lost blasts;
·
Acceleration of efforts to equip panels to improve flexibility and face
length;
·
Implementing improved planning and scheduling on a rolling 18
month basis for each panel;
·
Optimising availability of in-stope workers through new labour
management processes; and
·
Addressing shaft specific key infrastructural and engineering
constraints such as ventilation, hoisting and shaft schedules, and
winch management and repairs.
Average face advance improved from 6.1 metres to 6.7 metres in the
June quarter. The focus will remain on improvement of flexibility and
panel availability factors for sustainable safe production.
Developing full potential (Project 2M)
Project 2M is a technology initiative aimed at mechanising all flat-end
development (i.e. development on the horizontal plane) at the long-life
shafts of KDC and Beatrix. South Deep is already a fully mechanised
mine. The aim of the project is to improve safety and productivity,
reduce development costs and increase ore reserve flexibility through
higher monthly development advance rates.
The flat-end metres advance achieved by mechanised means was
similar to the previous quarter at 86 per cent. Planning is being
optimised in such a manner that a drill rig can service multiple ends to
improve utilisation of the rig and thus improve strike rate and efficiency.
NCE full potential (Project 3M)
The BPR NCE full potential project focuses on all categories of spend.
The first phase of the BPR initiatives, which commenced in the second
half of calendar 2010 in South Africa and included the merger of the
Kloof and Driefontein operations, now known as KDC, was concluded
at the end of December 2010.
In the second phase of the project, targeted cost reductions of between
R500 million (US$68 million) and R1.0 billion (US$137 million) have
been scheduled for KDC and Beatrix for the period to December 2012.
These cost saving initiatives are to be achieved through various
programmes which include productivity improvement initiatives,
continued reduction in staff through natural attrition and voluntary
separation, and power cost savings initiatives. This will assist in
absorbing some of the inflationary pressures faced in terms of input
costs.
A key priority is a fit for purpose structure at South Deep which is:
·
consistent with the new regional structure and principles;
·
appropriate for the ramp-up; and
·
customised for bulk trackless mechanised mining.
The completion of this work is a key deliverable in 2011.
The intent with BPR in 2011 is to mitigate as much of the anticipated
mining inflation increases as possible. Cost reductions of R35 million
were achieved in the June quarter, resulting in savings of R294 million
since the initiative started in mid-2010. These savings were mainly
achieved by changing to a more cost effective underground mining
support regime, a reduction in staff through natural attrition and the
voluntary separation programme, a reduction in non-specialised
contractors and power cost saving initiatives.
Project 4M
Project 4M focuses on the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC)
milestones agreed to on 15 June 2003 at a tripartite health and safety
summit, comprising representatives from Government, organised
labour and mining companies. The focus is on achieving occupational
health and safety targets and milestones over a 10-year period. The
commitment was driven by the need to achieve greater improvements
in occupational health and safety in the mining industry.
One of the milestone targets is that no machine or piece of equipment
may generate a sound pressure level in excess of 110dB(A) after