GOLD Fields raked in cash hand-over-fist in the six months to end-June and there’s more to come as the Salares Norte mine in Chile ramps up successfully and the South Deep mine in South Africa increases production.
In his interim review CEO Mike Fraser commented the continued delivery of Gold Fields three-pillar strategy would “drive increased profitability and free cash flow per share, improving our position relative to our peers and enhancing returns for our shareholders.
“As Salares Norte approaches steady state production, supported by sustained higher pricing, the group is set to generate strong free cash flow. This will enable investment in value-accretive projects, payment of competitive dividends, further balance sheet optimisation and additional shareholder returns.”
Gold Fields increased attributable production for the six months by 24% to 1.14Moz which, combined with the higher gold price, resulted in the group generating adjusted free cash flow of $952m compared with a negative cash outflow of $58m in the first half of 2024.
The group has declared an interim dividend of 700 SA cents a share which is more than double the 300c interim paid in 2024 and represents a payout of 34% of normalised earnings in line with Gold Fields’s policy of paying a base dividend of between 30% and 45% of normalised earnings.
The expected production ramp up at Salares Norte was delayed in 2024 because of severe winter conditions in the Andes Mountain. According to Fraser, “the additional heat tracing and additional plant encapsulation ensured that the plant was better equipped for the cold weather events this winter.
“Encouragingly, the plant continued to operate uninterrupted through the winter months, despite similar weather events to those experienced in 2024.”
Salares Norte produced 45,000oz of gold in the fourth quarter of 2024 which rose to 50,000oz in the first quarter of 2025 and 73,000oz in the second quarter of this year.
According to Fraser the mine is “tracking well to meet 2025 guidance which remains unchanged at 325,000oz to 375,000oz equivalent with all-in sustained costs of $975/oz to $1,125/oz equivalent. “
Turning to South Deep Fraser commented the mine had a stronger start to 2025 with production up 31% year-on-year to 153,000oz (first half 2024 – 117,000oz) “with the team having addressed the backfill and ground challenges in 2024. “
Fraser added, “as a highly-mechanised, long-life orebody South Deep remains a cornerstone asset with the team focussed on improving stope turnaround and driving incremental gains.”
