JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - South African gold company Gold Fields has sold its shareholding in Canada's Eldorado Gold for C$323-million, it said on Friday.

Gold Fields would use the proceeds to pay off debt.

In June, the South African miner sold its 19,9% stake in China-focused Sino Gold to Eldorado, resulting in it holding about 27,8-million shares in the TSX-listed company.

Gold Fields said in a statement that the share disposal did not impact on its agreement with Eldorado, which allows for a top-up should Eldorado acquire an additional 5%, or more, of the shares of Sino Gold before December 2010, and pay a higher price than the original consideration of 48 shares for every 100 Sino Gold shares.

When Gold Fields announced the deal, CEO Nick Holland said that the group would retain some exploration joint ventures with Sino over the Jinshu project and other nominated properties in China.

It also plans to strengthen its own team in China to allow for independent growth in that country.

China is the world's largest gold producing country, followed by the US and then South Africa, which held the number-one position for over 100 years.

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