Name of the Project
Salares Norte gold project.

Location
The project is located in the Atacama region of northern Chile.

Project Owner/s
Minera Gold Fields Salares Norte Ltda (MGFSNL), in which Gold Fields indirectly holds a 100% interest.

Project Description
Salares Norte has a maiden reserve of 21.1-million tonnes grading 5.1 g/t gold and 57.9 g/t silver. The definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the project, which includes Brecha Principal and Agua Amarga, has been completed and peer reviewed.

The DFS envisages an openpit mining operation using conventional mining equipment.

Mining and blasting services will be undertaken by contractors.

The DFS estimates an initial 11.5-year mine life, with production, on average, of 450 000 oz/y for the first seven years. At peak production, the project is expected to produce 550 000 oz/y of gold.

There will also be a significant stockpiling strategy.

An estimated 308-million tonnes of waste mining is expected over the mine life.

The company will introduce tailings filtration before it is dry-stacked at the tailings facility, which is 1 km away from the processing plant. The tailings will be transported hydraulically for filtration, and from there on trucks to the storage facility.

The plant will start with two filters, with a third to be added at a later stage.

The DFS includes plans for an on-site diesel-generated 14 MW power station.

The company plans to introduce renewables in stages as the project progresses, with an ultimate target of 20% of power consisting of renewables.

Potential Job Creation
It is estimated that about 2 700 jobs will be created during the construction of the mine. About 900 workers are expected to be employed once the mine is operational.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated net present value, at a 7.5% discount rate, of $654-million and an internal rate of return of 25%, with a payback of 2.2 years.

Capital Expenditure
The project is estimated at $860-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The project started construction in January 2021 and is scheduled for completion in late 2022, with the first gold production in early 2023.

Latest Developments
A Chilean environmental regulator's probe into whether a group of endangered short-tailed chinchillas was harmed by attempts to move them so that the Salares Norte mine can be built will likely be concluded "in the coming months", the environmental regulator's head has told Reuters.

Hunted for centuries for their thick, soft pelt, the short-tailed chinchilla is now classed as critically endangered and is found only high in the Andes Mountains.

Gold Fields has been working with Chilean authorities since 2020 to relocate the animals.

The Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) in November 2020 ordered a halt to the relocation efforts after one of the 25 giant rodents in the colony suffered a broken leg and two others died.

Head of the regulator Cristobal de la Maza has told Reuters it is considering a finding of serious failures in the project to rescue the chinchillas. According to the SMA's regulations, findings of serious failure can result in stiff fines or suspension of the mine's environmental permits.

The mining project's original environmental-impact assessment had committed to moving 25 chinchillas from rocky outcrops where they have been living on the intended site of the mine. The project to move them, which cost $400 000, began in August 2020.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Fluor (engineering, procurement and construction management).

Contact Details for Project Information
Gold Fields, email Investors@goldfields.com.