- Gold Fields' (GFI +4.8%) South Deep mine will be smaller than initially planned for at least the next three years as the company focuses on keeping it profitable, CEO Nick Holland says.
- GFI already had dropped its production target for South Deep to 650K-700K oz. by 2017 after years of technical problems, but "that will not be realistic as a target. After many years, it may well be achieved,” Holland tells the Denver Gold Forum.
- South Deep, GFI’s only mine in its home country of South Africa, is the world’s second largest gold deposit and makes up ~75% of the company’s reserves, but the complexity of the ore formation, its depth, and operational and safety problems have mired the mine in delays throughout its 25-year lifespan.