Gold Fields was not necessarily aiming to be the biggest gold-mining company in the world but to be the best and most sustainable company in the business, stated Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland.

Speaking at the company’s 2009 analyst day, in Johannesburg, Holland made it clear that the company planned to mine for the next 30 years and that it would do so in a responsible way.

He noted that Gold Fields planned to raise production to five-million ounces of gold by 2014. This would include one-million ounces from each of its South American, West African and Australasia regions, as well as between 2,2-million and 2,5-million ounces from South Africa.

“This is not a ‘pie in the sky’ concept, but a gap that we intend to fill in the next five years,” commented Holland.

To reach this goal, Gold Fields intended to sweat its assets and especially build on the South African production machine, which he referred to as the bedrock of the company.

Current aspi- rations in the South African region included the baseload delivery of 17 t to 18 t of ore each quarter. Holland noted that the company would already have reached this goal by the next quarter. “By the end of 2014 the aim is to deliver 20 t a quarter by further increasing the flexibility of our operations and opening up our orebodies.

Further, Holland stated that Gold Fields had a world-class growth pipeline emerging with its near-mine and greenfield exploration programme. Currently, the company boasted four advanced projects and hoped to turn one of these programmes, the Chucapaca joint venture, into a mine in the near future. An interim resource and scoping study for the Chucapaca project, in Peru, would be delivered by the end of 2010.

Gold Fields had also defined its uranium resource and a feasibility study was due in the third quarter of 2010.

However, Holland pointed out that the most significant aspect of the business was its people. “We realise and emphasise that people are, indeed, the key driver to the success of Gold Fields.

“To secure our future, the company aspires to attract and retain scarce skills by improving employee relations practices, remuneration models, improving our health and safety environment, leadership development, education and training, employment equity and taking a total employee wellness approach,” said Holland.

Gold Fields went from having the worst safety record to being the best in the industry. “Although the company had 21 fatalities in the 2009 financial year (47 in 2008), it remains focused on eliminating all fatalities.”

Nonetheless, the company’s ultimate goal was to eliminate all serious and fatal accidents. “We will not mine if we cannot mine safely,” Holland concluded.

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