Beatrix gold mine, the villain of the third quarter, became the star turn of Gold Fields’ fourth-quarter performance, earning high praise from the corporate top brass.

Beatrix produced 3,2 t of gold in the latest quarter, compared with 2,5 t in the previous quarter.

“I am really pleased with the turnaround of Beatrix, which I believe is sustainable” says Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland.

The gold mine in the Theunissen district of the Free State, to the south of the town of Virginia, is seen as a key part of Gold Fields’ portfolio.

Gold Fields says that Beatrix represents a “very substantial six-million-ounce orebody” with much capital invested on shaft development at Beatrix’s principal No 3 Shaft, in particular.

“It’s lower grade than the West Wits, but it’s shallow and lends itself to more productive mining,” Holland says.

While some $2,7-billion a year is spent around the world in the gold sector on exploration to find only five-million ounces each year, Beatrix, on its own, is even bigger, at six-million-ounces plus, “and it’s in our own backyard”.

South Africa head Vishnu Pillay says that large operations like Beatrix cannot be turned around while they are still operating. 
Production has to be brought to a halt as remedial action is put in place.

“‘Stop, think, fix, verify and then continue’ is the mantra that we are singing on our 
operations,” Pillay says.

“We had to get the mining mix right. 
“You can’t get the mining mix right by continuing to mine low-grade material. 
“Stoping width was a problem, and you don’t fix stoping width overnight.

“We had a strong drive on quality and Beatrix should be producing anything 
between 3 t and 3,5 t a quarter on a consistent level. 
We’ve always believed that Beatrix is an 
operation that can deliver considerable value to Gold Fields, now and into the future,” Pillay tells Mining Weekly.

“It just shows what a change in focus can do. That team has gone through 360˚ in terms of morale and attitude. 
“In December, I saw a demoralised team down at that mine, but when I went down three weeks ago, the team was talking up even higher numbers than the 3,2 t and they are going to keep this operation being a great con-
tributor,” Holland points out to Mining Weekly.

To watch a video in which Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland tells Mining Weekly Online’s Martin Creamer that the gold company is ahead of the pack when it comes to dividend payments, click here.