Gold Fields to Raise Output as Much as 5.7% This Year

Gold Fields Ltd., Africa’s second- largest producer of gold, plans to raise output as much as 5.7 percent this year after gains in prices of the precious metal.

Gold Fields expects to produce 3.5 million to 3.7 million attributable equivalent ounces in the year through December, the Johannesburg-based company said today in a statement. It produced 3.5 million ounces in fiscal 2010, the year to June 30.

Gold prices advanced for a 10th straight year in 2010, reaching a record $1,431.25 an ounce on Dec. 7 on concern rising inflation would erode currency values. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., Africa’s largest producer of the metal, said yesterday gold may push above $1,500 an ounce this year.

Gold Fields expects production to be boosted by output from the Incredible project at its St. Ives operations in Western Australia, where a “potentially large gold prospect has been defined,” according to the statement.

Gold Fields rose 2.7 percent to 123.74 rand at the 5 p.m. close of trade in Johannesburg, the biggest one-day gain since Dec. 2.

The company agreed in August to sell part of its operations to its black employees after the government ruled mining companies must sell 26 percent of their South African assets to black people by 2014, helping to compensate for the apartheid policy that disenfranchised most of the population.

Quarterly Loss

After agreeing to sell almost 11 percent of its South African operations, in one of three deals, Gold Fields posted a loss in the quarter through December.

The net loss was 777 million rand ($108.2 million), or 1.09 rand a share, compared with a profit of 701 million rand, or 98 cents, in the previous quarter, the company said in today’s statement. Analysts tracking local gold producers compare consecutive quarters rather than year-on-year results.

Production fell to 898,000 ounces during the quarter from 908,000 ounces in the previous three months.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-18/gold-fields-reports-december-quarter-attributable-output-of-898-000-ounces.html)