50NT Hsbc Bk. 25

RNS Number:9011Q
Gold Fields Ld
4 February 2002

MEDIA RELEASE

                              Gold Fields Limited
                            Reports Record Earnings
                            For Second Quarter F2002

  • Earnings tripled
    up from R203 to R640 million
    (US$24 million to US$67 million)
  • Operating profit doubled
    up from R498 million to R1,064 million
    (US$59 million to US$110 million)
  • Attributable gold output up 11%
    from 886,000 ounces to 984,000 ounces
  • Cash costs down 16 %
    from US$200/oz to US$169/oz
  • Rand gold price up 24 %
    from R73,646/kg to R91,627/kg
  • Acquisition of St Ives, Agnew and Damang completed
    will increase attributable gold production to more than 4.5 million ounces
    per annum



Live Conference Call Audio Webcast on 4 February at 17.00 Johannesburg time
(10:00 a.m., North American EST)
See www.goldfields.co.za for more details



 Johannesburg, 4 February 2002 - Gold Fields Limited (JSE - GFI and Nasdaq -
GOLD) today reported record earnings of R640 million (US$67 million), or 139
cents per share, for the December 2001 quarter, a three-fold increase over
earnings of R203 million (US$24 million), or 45 cents per share, reported in the
September Quarter.

The record earnings can be attributed to an 11% increase in attributable
production and the significant weakening of the Rand/US Dollar exchange rate in
the period under review.

Revenue for the quarter was R2,869 million (US$287 million), an increase of R778
million (US$37 million), or 37 per cent over the previous quarter's revenue of
R2,091 million (US$250 million).

Attributable gold production improved from 886,000 ounces to 984,000 ounces, an
increase of 11 per cent. The gain in the Rand gold price received to R91,627 per
kilogram resulted mainly from the weakening of the quarterly average Rand/US
Dollar exchange rate from R8.37 during the September quarter to R10.12 in the
December quarter. The average Dollar gold price rose from US$274 per ounce to
US$279 per ounce, quarter on quarter.

The increased production, together with the higher gold price received, resulted
in operating profit for the December quarter more than doubling to R1,064
million (US$110 million), compared to R498 million (US$59 million) for the
September quarter.

Operating cash flow for the quarter tripled from R368 million (US$45 million) to
R1,219 million (US$126 million), resulting in a cash balance at the end of
December of R888 (US$74 million), triple that held at the end of the previous
quarter. Debt at the end of the quarter, relating to the acquisition of the
Agnew and St Ives operations from WMC Resources Limited, was R1,980 million
(US$165 million).

In line with the company's policy of paying out 50 per cent of its earnings, an
interim dividend of 90 cents per share has been declared payable to shareholders
registered at the close of business on 15 February 2002. The dividend is
declared in the currency of the Republic of South Africa.

Operations

The South African operations contributed an increase of 3 per cent of the total
production increase, or 33,000 ounces, as a result of additional tons milled and
an improvement in yield: 22,000 ounces from the Free State and 11,000 ounces
from Kloof. The inclusion of 68,000 ounces from the new Australian operations
for the month of December accounted for the remaining 8 per cent increase.

Cash costs for the Group decreased from US$200 per ounce to US$169 per ounce as
a result of three main factors: the increase in production at Beatrix and Kloof,
the weakening of the Rand/Dollar exchange rate by 21 per cent, and the inclusion
of production from Australia at a cash cost of US$161 per ounce.

Chris Thompson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said:

"It is indeed a pleasure to present this set of results. While all of our
operations have performed well, notable achievements for the quarter include the
containment of Rand costs per kilogram for the South African operations; the
significant improvement in the performance of Beatrix, including its 4 Shaft
(Oryx), where the teams put in a sterling effort to achieve record production
and profits; and some much needed improvements from Kloof. Driefontein, drawing
on many months of focused efforts, had an exceptional December and is now
running particularly well. 80, 000 tons of high-grade ore were stockpiled during
the quarter allowing the mine to continue producing gold over the usually
dormant Christmas period and strongly into January," said Thompson.

Completion of the acquisition of the St Ives and Agnew Mines from WMC Resources
Limited occurred on 1 December 2001, resulting in a full month's contribution to
this quarter's results. During this period, the development of new operating and
business systems was completed and a new management team established, led by
Steve Banning who was appointed Managing Director of Australia. The near term
focus will remain on maintaining current production levels and optimising
existing operations. Exploration will be ramped up on both sites over the next
18 months, and once the resource and reserve potential is more fully defined, a
long-range plan will be implemented to realise the full potential of the two
sites. The acquisition of the Damang mine in Ghana from Ranger Minerals was
completed after the close of the reporting period, on 23 January 2001.

"These two acquisitions, coupled with the successful Tarkwa mine in Ghana, will
push Gold Fields' gross production outside South Africa to over 33% of our
total. We are very excited about the exploration potential these operations
bring as well as the new dimensions they add both for our people and our
aspirations. They are demonstrably value-adding additions, which vindicates our
strategy of careful evaluation and selectivity with regard to growth," said
Thompson.

Metallurgical studies continued during the quarter at Arctic Platinum and
included pilot plant testing. Additional drilling was completed at Ahmavaara and
Konttijarvi in anticipation of the Suhanko feasibility study, which is expected
to be complete by September 2002. As a result of cumulative expenditures of
US$13 million being attained, Gold Fields has earned its full 51 percent
interest in the project.

Outlook

"The outlook for the March quarter is encouraging. This quarter will reflect the
inclusion of a full quarter from our Australian operations and two months from
the new Damang operation. In addition, if the current Rand values in the range
of R11-R12 to the Dollar are sustained, we can expect greater contributions from
South African operations where we have had the best operational January we have
had for many years. The US Dollar gold price looks solidly underpinned by strong
physical demand in the $280 - $290 per ounce range and the emergence of
investment buying of gold in Japan and Germany are further reasons for optimism
in our outlook," said Thompson.

"For the calendar year ahead we will continue to look for acquisition
opportunities. We hope that after the Normandy takeover battle pricing
expectations have not risen to prohibitive levels. Real value creation remains
the key to our strategy," he said.

 Gold Fields Limited is one of the world's largest unhedged gold producers with
operating mines in South Africa, Ghana, and Australia. Attributable gold
production is more than 4.5 million ounces per year, with reserves of 85 million
ounces and resources of more than 150 million ounces. Gold Fields is listed on
the Johannesburg (GFI), Nasdaq (GOLD), London, Paris and Swiss exchanges.


         SA RAND                                 SALIENT FEATURES                                US DOLLARS
         Quarter                                                                                  Quarter
Sept 2001    Dec 2001                                                                        Dec
                                                                                            2001       Sept 2001
   27,555       30,592     kg              Gold production*              oz (000)            984          886
   53,829       55,013     R/kg            Cash costs                    $/oz                169          200
   7,675         8,354     000             Tons milled                   000                8,354        7,675
   73,646       91,627     R/kg            Revenue                       $/oz                279          274
    212           215      R/ton           Operating costs               $/ton               21            25
    498          1,064     Rm              Operating profit              $m                  110           59
    203           640      Rm                                            $m                  67            24
                                           Headline Earnings
     45           139      SA c.p.s.                                     US c.p.s.           15            5
    203           640      Rm                                            $m                  67            24
                                           Net earnings
     45           139      SA c.p.s.                                     US c.p.s.           15            5

* Attributable - all companies wholly owned except Tarkwa (71.1%)

Gold Fields Limited                                         Enquiries
Reg. 1968/004880/06
24 St Andrews Road                                          South Africa
Parktown, 2193

Postnet Suite 252                                           Willie Jacobsz
Private Bag X30500                                          Tel +27 11 644-2460
Houghton, 2041                                              Fax + 27 11 484-0639
South Africa
                                                            North America

Tel +27 11 644-2400                                         Cheryl A Martin
Dir +27 11 644-2460                                         Tel +303 796 8683
Fax +27 11 484-0639                                         Fax +303 796-8293
www.goldfields.co.za

Full results on website
www.goldfields.co.za
www.gold-fields.com



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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