JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South African gold major Gold Fields on Thursday announced a net loss from continuing operations for the June quarter, mainly as a result of impairments and the low gold price.

The net loss for the June 2013 quarter of R1 169-million ($129-million) compared with earnings of R236-million ($27-million) in the March 2013 quarter and R837-million ($105-million) in June last year.

The number of employees, including contractors, worldwide has reduced by 5% from 19 400 after the unbundling of Sibanye to 18 400 currently.

Full-time employees now number 9 900.

As anticipated, JSE- and NYSE-listed Gold Fields, which has operations in South African, Ghana, Australia and Peru, produced 5% less gold at 451 000 attributable ounces from 477 000 oz in the March quarter, mainly owing to the illegal strike action at the Tarkwa and Damang gold mines in Ghana.

“We are continuing to take a series of steps to reduce costs without negatively impacting underground development and surface stripping at the operations,” Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland said.

Using the new World Gold Council metric that it helped to motivate, the company puts its all-in cost at $1 572/oz, which is $209/oz above the current gold price, and its all-in sustaining costs at $1 416/oz, which is $53/oz above the current gold price.

The loss a share of R1.59 ($0.18) was largely the consequence of non-recurring items of R1 318-million ($143-million), of which R1 160-million ($127-million) relates to impairment charges at Tarkwa and Damang.

The impairment was driven by curtailment of heap leach activities at Tarkwa and a revaluation of the ore stockpiles at Damang to match the lower prevailing gold prices.

Loss contributors were the lower revenue resulting from a decline in production and the average quarterly dollar gold price achieved falling 16% from $1 625/oz in the March quarter to $1 372/oz in the June quarter.

The reduction of marginal mining, which began with the closure of the marginal heap-leach operation at St Ives in Australia, continued with the withdrawal from mining the low grade Main and Rajah orebodies at Agnew, also in Australia and the closure of the South Heap leach operations at Tarkwa.

Restructuring and rightsizing of all operational and corporate office structures and the international projects unit is under way.

The smaller corporate office, which has reduced its staff numbers from 110 to 56, is now narrowly focused on the group strategy, capital, growth, stakeholders, policies and standards, as well as compliance and reporting.

Corporate costs have been cut to $10/oz.

June quarter revenue fell 21% from R7 159-million ($805-million) to R6 038-million ($637-million).

Net operating costs decreased 1% to R3 566-million ($401-million) in the March quarter to R3 737-million ($397-million) in the June quarter. 

A Gold Fields employee was fatally injured by a fall of ground in the destress section of South Deep, Gold Fields' only remaining South African asset, which is fully mechanised.

The death followed 805 days without a fatality at the mine, where manual support-drilling in the hanging wall of destress sections has since been stopped and a new standard implemented group-wide whereby all drilling is now remotely operated.

Cerro Corona in Peru maintained its record of being lost time injury free since September 2011 and Damang achieved a full year without a lost-time injury.

Gold Fields today reported a net loss from continuing operations of $129-million (R1 169-million)