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Gold Fields

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FY2020 Annual Report · Gold Fields
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2020

IIINNNNTTTEEEEGGGRRRRAAAATTTTEEEEDDDD AAAANNNNNNUUAALLL RREEPPOORT
INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT

GOLD FIELDS IS A GLOBALLY DIVERSIFIED GOLD PRODUCER WITH NINE OPERATING MINES IN AUSTRALIA, PERU, 
SOUTH AFRICA AND WEST AFRICA (INCLUDING THE ASANKO JOINT VENTURE (JV)) AND ONE PROJECT IN CHILE. WE 
HAVE TOTAL ATTRIBUTABLE ANNUAL GOLD-EQUIVALENT PRODUCTION OF 2.24MOZ, ATTRIBUTABLE GOLD-EQUIVALENT 
MINERAL RESERVES OF 52.1MOZ AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF 116.0MOZ. OUR SHARES ARE LISTED ON THE 
JOHANNESBURG STOCK EXCHANGE (JSE), WITH OUR AMERICAN DEPOSITARY SHARES TRADING ON THE NEW YORK 
STOCK EXCHANGE (NYSE).

The cover photo of our 2020 Integrated Annual Report (IAR) shows our Salares Norte 
project in the Atacama region in northern Chile. The project received the go ahead by 
our Board of Directors in February 2020, and construction is progressing as per plan 
and expected to be completed in Q1 2023.

DELIVERING 
ENDURING 
VALUE IN 
PARTNERSHIP 
WITH OUR 
STAKEHOLDERS 

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

About this report
Where Gold Fields operates

OUR LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY

Vision of the Chairperson
Chief Executive Officer’s report
Overview of strategic pillars 
Group Scorecards

HOW WE OPERATE

Our Board of Directors
How we govern our business
Our business model 
Value creation for our stakeholders
Material matters 
Risks and opportunities 

OUR PERFORMANCE

Safety and wellbeing of our people 
Developing a fit-for-purpose workforce 
Creating a global, sustainable portfolio 
Profitable production and sustainable  
cash-flow
Capital allocation and sound balance sheet 
management 
Value creation for stakeholders 
Environmental stewardship 

ASSURANCE

1
4

8
10
17
24

30
33
36
38
41
42

50
56
60

68

74
81
96

First party: Internal audit statement
Independent assurance statement to the 
Board of Directors and stakeholders of 
Gold Fields Limited
Assured sustainability performance indicators
Assured South African Mining Charter 
performance indicators
Administration and corporate information

106

107
110

111
112

SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK
Your feedback on our reporting suite is important to us. To ensure that we report on the issues our stakeholders care about, 
please provide any feedback and questions to investors@goldfields.com or sustainability@goldfields.com, or visit  
www.goldfields.com to download the feedback form. 

Further reading within this report

Further information available online

This section introduces our IAR and 
approach to reporting. It also offers an 
overview of our seven strategic pillars and 
portfolio of operations.

In this section, our Chairperson provides 
an overview of our reporting year. This 
is followed by a detailed report from our 
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who also 
explains what each of the seven strategic 
pillars means to our business, along with 
key trends over the past 10 years.

This section introduces our Board of 
Directors and explains how our governance 
processes adds value to our business. 
We explain our business model and 
how we create enduring value for our 
stakeholders and we disclose our top risks 
and associated opportunities arising from 
our operating environment.

In this section, we provide a detailed 
account of our 2020 performance against 
our seven strategic pillars.

This section provides internal and external 
assurance over selected sustainability data 
included in this report. Our independent 
auditor’s report, which provides assurance 
on our consolidated financial statements, 
is included in our Annual Financial Report 
(AFR). 

linkedin.com/company/gold-fields

business.facebook.com/GoldFieldsLTD

@GoldFields_LTD

instagram.com/goldfields_ltd/

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

ABOUT THIS REPORT

OUR REPORT’S STAKEHOLDER AND STRATEGY FOCUS 
The aim of our integrated reporting suite is to enable 
our stakeholders, including capital providers, to make 
an informed assessment of Gold Fields’ long-term 
sustainability and ability to create enduring value. We 
embrace integrated thinking, and by structuring our 2020 
IAR around our strategic pillars (p11), we concisely and 
transparently articulate how our material matters, risks 
and opportunities, operating environment, performance 
and prospects unlock value for stakeholders.

In compiling this IAR, we complied with the Global 
Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards: Core option and 
the International Integrated Reporting Council’s (IIRC’s) 
International  Framework. As detailed on p3 of our 
AFR, we have also aligned this report with a range of 
additional codes, frameworks and standards, including the 
King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa 
2016 (King IVTM1). On occasion, we use non-International 
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) measures in the IAR, 
as defined on p133 – 137 of the AFR. 

1   Copyright and trademarks are owned by the Institute of Directors in 

South Africa NPC and all of its rights are reserved.

REPORTING SCOPE AND BOUNDARY  
This IAR presents Gold Fields’ strategic pillars, business 
model, Group and regional risks and opportunities, 
stakeholder expectations and operational performance 
for the financial year 1 January 2020 to 31 December 
2020. It includes material information relating to our nine 
operations in Peru, Australia, South Africa, West Africa 
(including our Asanko JV), and one project in Chile. 

IAR REPORTING BOUNDARY 

INTRODUCTION
ABOUT THIS REPORT

Any material events after year-end and up to the Board 
approval date of 31 March 2021 have also been included. 
Our geographical footprint is detailed on p4 – 5.

The term “attributable” as it relates to production and 
Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources refers to 100% 
of our mines and projects, as well as Damang (90%), 
Tarkwa (90%), Gruyere (50%), Asanko (45%) and Far 
Southeast (FSE) (40%). The exception is attributable 
Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources at South Deep 
(91%). The term “managed” relating to production and 
Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources refers to 100% 
of our mines and projects, as well as Gruyere (50%), 
Asanko (50%) and FSE (40%). The net debt:EBITDA ratios 
mentioned in this report refer to adjusted EBITDA, while 
we present Group and mine All-in costs (AIC) and All-in 
sustaining costs (AISC) in terms of the original World Gold 
Council interpretation.

Non-financial data included in this IAR relates to our eight 
operating mines and excludes our non-managed Asanko 
JV and the Salares Norte project in Chile, unless stated. 
Where relevant, we include data from Darlot (sold in 2017) 
up to October 2017. Socio-economic development (SED) 
spend, includes the South Deep trusts and project spend.

We used average exchange rates for 2020 of R16.38/
US$1 and US$0.69/A$1 in this report (2019: R14.46/
US$1 and US$0.70/A$1; 2018: R13.20/US$1 and 
US$0.75/A$1). For 2021, we used forecast exchange 
rates of R17.50/US$1 and US$0.75/A$1. 

FINANCIAL REPORTING BOUNDARY

JOINT VENTURES

INVESTMENTS

SUBSIDIARIES

OUR KEY STAKEHOLDERS

GOVERNMENT

EMPLOYEES

BUSINESS PARTNERS

CAPITAL PROVIDERS

HOST COMMUNITIES

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 
This IAR contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the Securities Act) and section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(the Exchange Act) with respect to Gold Fields’ financial condition, results of operations, business strategies, operating efficiencies, competitive position, growth opportunities for existing services, 
plans and objectives of management, markets for stock and other matters. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms 
“believes”, “estimates”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “aims”, “continues”, “expects”, “hopes”, “may”, “will”, “would” or “could” or, in each case, their negative or other various or comparable terminology.

These forward-looking statements, including, among others, those relating to Gold Fields’ future business prospects, revenues and income, wherever they may occur in this IAR, are necessary 
estimates reflecting the best judgement of Gold Fields’ senior management and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those 
suggested by the forward-looking statements. Consequently, these forward-looking statements should be considered in light of various important factors, including those outlined in this IAR. 
Gold Fields undertakes no obligation to publicly update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or to reflect the 
occurrence of unanticipated events.

 Refer to the full forward-looking statements on www.goldfields.com

1

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

NAVIGATING OUR REPORT

ICMM, GRI AND UN SDG COMPLIANCE
The IAR forms part of our compliance with the GRI Standards, as well as the reporting requirements of the International 
Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM) Sustainable Development Framework, Principles and Position Statements (see p107 – 
111 for the assurance hereof). Our compliance with the ICMM is addressed throughout this report and on our website, 
and details:
• How our sustainable development policies align with the ICMM’s 10 Principles and mandatory Position Statements 
• How we identify specific sustainable development risks and opportunities 
• The systems and approaches we implemented to manage the sustainable development risks and opportunities identified
• Our performance across the identified material sustainable development risks and opportunities

We present our self-assessment of adherence with the ICMM Principles and Position Statements online. We also align 
with the 10 Principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). We consider that this IAR, together with additional 
documents available on our website, complies with the requirements of the GRI Standards. 

 Disclosures in accordance with the GRI Standards can be accessed at www.goldfields.com/sustainability-overview.php

We aim to be the global leader in sustainable gold mining. In pursuit of this vision, Gold Fields positively contributes to the 
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As part of our commitment to sustainable development, we actively seek 
out opportunities to collaborate with partners on a global level. In this way, we can support lasting social and economic 
progress to play our part in bringing an end to poverty, protecting the environment and ensuring growth in prosperity, 
where we operate 

We identified the following 11 SDGs that we believe we can impact the most, thereby enabling meaningful change in 
co-operation with our peers in the mining and metals sector: 

 Details of our commitment to the relevant SDGs can be found on our website www.goldfields.com/sustainability 

THE 2020 REPORTING SUITE 

INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT 
Our primary report, which details the 
Group’s value creation story over the 
short, medium and long term

  Our online IAR portal, which can be 
accessed at www.goldfields.com/ 
2020-annual-report-suite.php from 
mid-April 2021 onwards

ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT 
Our full Corporate Governance 
Report, Board and Board 
committee reports, Directors’ 
Report, Remuneration Report and 
our Annual Financial Statements, 
fulfilling our statutory financial 
reporting requirements 

MINERAL RESOURCES AND 
MINERAL RESERVES SUPPLEMENT 
Detailed technical and operational 
information on our mines and 
growth projects 

NOTICE OF ANNUAL 
GENERAL MEETING (AGM) 

The resolutions to be tabled 
to shareholders at our AGM 

TO BE  
RELEASED 
JOINTLY IN 
APRIL 2021

2

CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT 
Our Climate Change Report is in 
alignment with the recommendations 
of the Task Force on Climate-related 
Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

REPORT TO STAKEHOLDERS 
A high-level outline of our 
contributions to our key stakeholders, 
as well as recent developments 
impacting these relationships 

GRI CONTENT INDEX 
The IAR is compiled to comply 
with the GRI Standards: Core 
option. The GRI Content Index 
also cross-references to 
the ICMM Principles, UNGC 
Principles, UN SDGs and the 
Sustainability Accounting 
Standards Board (SASB) 

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

INTRODUCTION

CREATING VALUE THROUGH OUR STRATEGIC PILLARS
Our seven strategic pillars are designed to enable the delivery of our vision. Each pillar has 
key performance indicators (KPIs) in terms of our Group Balanced Scorecard (BSC), as well 
as associated risks and opportunities. Refer to p17 – 23 for more details.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

SAFETY AND 
WELLBEING OF 
OUR PEOPLE

DEVELOPING 
A FIT-FOR-
PURPOSE 
WORKFORCE

CREATING 
A GLOBAL, 
SUSTAINABLE 
PORTFOLIO

Our goal is to 
eliminate all 
fatalities and 
serious injuries at 
our operations as 
well as alleviate 
any adverse 
health impacts 
we have on host 
communities.

We aim to build 
a strong, diverse 
and inclusive 
pipeline of talent 
to meet the mining 
industry’s future 
needs.

We position 
our portfolio for 
sustainable cash 
generation by 
lowering AIC and 
extending mine life 
while preserving 
a sound balance 
sheet. 

PROFITABLE 
PRODUCTION 
AND 
SUSTAINABLE 
CASH-FLOW

We aim to 
sustainably 
improve our 
total shareholder 
returns, increase 
margins and 
pursue strong 
cash-flow 
generation to 
share the benefits 
of mining with our 
key stakeholders.

CAPITAL 
ALLOCATION 
AND SOUND 
BALANCE SHEET 
MANAGEMENT

We seek to 
continuously 
strengthen our 
balance sheet and 
fund sustainable, 
long-term growth. 

VALUE 
CREATION FOR 
STAKEHOLDERS

ENVIRONMENTAL 
STEWARDSHIP

We cultivate 
mutually beneficial 
relationships with 
our stakeholders 
to protect our 
reputation and 
social licence to 
operate and create 
enduring value 
where we operate. 

We are committed 
to responsible 
environmental 
stewardship and 
aim to improve the 
areas surrounding 
our operations 
and limit our 
impact on our host 
communities. 

BOARD APPROVAL 
Gold Fields’ Board of Directors acknowledges its responsibility to ensure the integrity 
of this IAR. It is of the opinion that the 2020 IAR complies in all material respects with 
the relevant statutory and regulatory requirements – particularly the International  
Framework, as updated in January 2021, IFRS and the South African Companies Act 
No 71 of 2008 (as amended). The Board further believes that the 2020 IAR addresses all 
material matters and offers a comprehensive view of the Company’s strategic objectives, 
including how these enable Gold Fields to create value for stakeholders in the short, 
medium and long term. The Board unanimously approved the 2020 IAR – as well as the 
2020 AFR, which includes our Annual Financial Statements – for release on 31 March 2021. 

Cheryl Carolus

ASSURANCE
ERM Southern Africa (ERM) provided independent reasonable assurance over key sustainability information in this report, which 
is prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards: Core option. As a member of the ICMM, we are committed to obtaining 
assurance in line with the ICMM Sustainable Development Framework: Assurance Procedure. ERM assured our statement on 
compliance with the ICMM Sustainable Development Framework, Principles and Reporting Requirements. The key sustainability 
performance data assured by ERM in 2020 is detailed on p107 – 111.

3

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

WHERE GOLD FIELDS OPERATES – 2020 PERFORMANCE

Gold Fields is a globally diversified gold producer 
with nine operating mines in Australia, Peru, 
South Africa and West Africa (including the 
Asanko JV), as well as one project in Chile.  
We have total attributable annual gold-equivalent 
production of 2.2Moz, attributable gold-
equivalent Mineral Reserves of 52.1Moz and 
Mineral Resources of 116.0Moz. Our shares are 
listed on the JSE and our American depositary 
shares trade on the NYSE.

Peru

Chile

AMERICAS 
Mines: Cerro Corona in Peru – copper, gold –  
open pit mine 
Project Salares Norte in Chile – gold, silver deposit
Safety (TRIFR – Cerro Corona) 

Workforce

Employees
Contractors
Attributable gold-eq production (koz)
AIC (US$/eq-oz) 
Net cash-flow (US$m)1 
Attr Gold Mineral Resources (Moz) 
Attr Gold Mineral Reserves (Moz)

Ghana

WEST AFRICA  
Mines: Tarkwa, Damang and Asanko (50/50 JV)  
in Ghana – open pit mines

0.58

Safety (TRIFR)2 

Workforce2

568
3,700
206   
1,119
84
5.79
4.84

Employees
Contractors
Attributable production (koz)3 
AIC (US$/oz)3 
Net cash-flow (US$m)1,2 
Attr Gold Mineral Resources (Moz)
Attr Gold Mineral Reserves (Moz)

0.75

1,063
5,940
787
1,060
290
14.70
6.41

  Read more on p70

Cerro Corona

  Read more on p72

Tarkwa

1  Net cash-flow from operating activities less net capital expenditure (capex), environmental payments, lease payment and redemption of Asanko preference shares.
2 Excludes 45% of Asanko. 

3 Includes 45% of Asanko. 

4

 
 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

INTRODUCTION

GROUP OVERVIEW 
Mines: Nine mines in Peru, South Africa, Australia and Ghana  
(incl. 45% of Asanko)
Project: One project in Chile

CONTRIBUTION TO 
GROUP ATTRIBUTABLE PRODUCTION

Safety

Fatal incident 

TRIFR

Workforce

Employees

Contractors

Attributable production (koz)

AIC (US$/eq-oz)

Net cash-flow (US$m)1

Attr Gold-eq Mineral Resources (Moz)

Attr Gold-eq Mineral Reserves (Moz)

1
2.40

5,641
12,771
2,236
1,079
631
116.00
52.10

(cid:122) Americas 
(cid:122) Australia 
(cid:122) South Africa 
(cid:122) West Africa 

10%
45%
10%
35%3

SOUTH AFRICA  
Mines: South Deep – underground mine
Safety
Fatal incident  
TRIFR  
Workforce

Employees
Contractors
Attributable production (koz) 
AIC (US$/oz) 
Net cash-flow (US$m)1 
Attr Gold Mineral Resources (Moz) 
Attr Gold Mineral Reserves (Moz) 

AUSTRALIA  
Mines: St Ives, Granny Smith, Agnew and Gruyere 
(50/50 JV) – open pit and underground mines

1
3.51

2,342
1,801
227
1,260
34
56.75
31.54

Safety (TRIFR) 

Workforce

Employees
Contractors
Attributable production (koz) 
AIC (US$/oz) 
Net cash-flow (US$m)1 
Attr Gold Mineral Resources (Moz) 
Attr Gold Mineral Reserves (Moz) 

  Read more on p70

South Deep

  Read more on p71

6.06

1,668
1,330
1,017
957
498
19.43
7.49

St Ives

5

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

Salares Norte, Chile

6

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY

OUR LEADERSHIP  
AND STRATEGY 
HOW WE 
CREATE 
VALUE

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

VISION OF THE CHAIRPERSON 
P8 – 9
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S 
(CEO’S) REPORT. OUR VALUE-
CREATION STRATEGY P10 – 16
MESSAGE FROM THE INCOMING 
CEO P16
OVERVIEW OF STRATEGIC 
PILLARS P17 – 23
GROUP 2020 AND 2021 
BALANCED SCORECARDS  
P24 – 27

7

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

VISION OF THE CHAIRPERSON

“The Board has complete 
confidence in the ability of 
Gold Fields’ management 
team and its employees to 
continue dealing successfully 
with the ongoing impact of 
Covid-19”
Cheryl Carolus

DEAR STAKEHOLDERS
This past year has been a remarkable 
one for Gold Fields. Firstly, the outbreak 
of Covid-19 not only challenged our 
personal lives, but also business-
as-usual across the regions where 
we operate. Secondly, despite the 
impact of the pandemic, Gold Fields 
had another year of impressive 
performance, with strong earnings, 
cash-flows and value creation for our 
stakeholders. Finally, 2020 was the 
last year that Nick Holland led the 
Company. He officially retired at the 
end of March. A memorable era in 
Gold Fields’ history has come to an 
end, and we are embarking on a new 
chapter with the appointment of Chris 
Griffith as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) 
from April onwards.

In last year’s report, I made initial 
reference to our management’s 
proactive and comprehensive 
approach to mitigating the early 
impacts of Covid-19 on our people 
and operations. None of us could 
have foreseen that, a year later, the 
pandemic would still be with us. 
Tragically, 10 of Gold Fields’ employees 
and contractors have lost their lives, as 
have many of our colleagues’ relatives. 
On behalf of the Board, I want to 
express our heartfelt condolences to 
the families and friends of those who 
have succumbed to Covid-19, as well 
as to our colleagues who have lost their 
loved ones. 

In this Integrated Annual Report (IAR), 
we report extensively on how our teams 
managed to, first and foremost, protect 
our employees and contractors, assist 
our host communities and governments 
in mitigating the pandemic’s impact, 
and keep our mines and projects 

8

operating strongly and safely. The 
Board receives regular updates, via its 
Risk Committee, of the actions taken 
by the Company.

We expect that the pandemic will 
remain a reality for months to come, 
perhaps even years, and could impact 
our operational plans in yet unforeseen 
ways. The Board has requested the 
Group’s management team to develop 
strategies on how we can assist in 
making vaccines available to our 
workforce, and, where appropriate, 
to families and communities, as well 
as prepare our people and business 
for this ‘new normal’. As such, we 
are exploring ways of supporting our 
employees who, for example, are 
now permanently working from home 
or are struggling as a result of the 
continued impact of Covid-19. At an 
operational level, we will continue to 
test our people, provide them with the 
necessary equipment and information 
to protect themselves, and help them 
in any possible way we can if they 
contract Covid-19.

The Board has complete confidence in 
the ability of Gold Fields’ management 
team and its workforce to continue 
dealing successfully with the ongoing 
impact of Covid-19. Our 2020 
operational performance speaks for 
itself – despite the challenges and 
disruptions of the year, the Company 
delivered a strong set of results in 2020. 
The impact of Covid-19 was limited 
to approximately 3% of production 
(approximately 80koz) and, while our 
operations spent an additional US$30m 
to deal with the pandemic or donate 
to host governments, both costs and 
production were within revised market 
guidance.

The stable production and cost 
profile was supported by a record 
high gold price. Our financial results 
also benefited from the gold price, 
and included net cash-flow of 
US$631m and normalised earnings of 
US$879m – both more than double our 
performance in 2019. We reduced net 
debt by almost US$600m, placing our 
balance sheet in a very healthy position, 
and recorded a net debt:EBITDA ratio 
of 0.56x – the lowest it has been in 
almost a decade. Our shareholders 
received a total dividend of R4.80/
share, three times that of 2019. They 
also saw their shares hit record highs in 
2020, though this has since retreated 
in line with the decline in the gold price 
from its record levels of over US$2,050/
oz in August last year.

In February 2020, our Board decided 
to go ahead with the US$860m Salares 
Norte project in Chile. Construction 
proceeded as planned during the year 
and is set for completion in Q1 2023. 
Salares Norte is the latest building 
block in the Company’s reinvestment 
programme of the past three years, 
during which we also effectively built 
two new mines, Gruyere in Australia 
and the Damang Pit Cutback in Ghana. 
Both mines contributed meaningfully 
to the Group’s cash-flow during 2020. 
I am also particularly pleased to report 
that South Deep again showed strong 
financial and operational improvements 
and contributed positive cash-flow 
during 2020. 

Gold Fields continues to focus on 
maximising in-country and host 
community economic impact. The 
Group’s value distribution to national 
economies amounted to US$2.85bn 
in 2020 compared with US$2.58bn 
in 2019. Of this, US$676m, 28% 

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY

of the total, remained with our host 
communities. We achieved this by 
maximising the number of people we 
employ from our host communities, 
prioritising procurement from local 
enterprises and channelling our socio-
economic development (SED) spend to 
these communities. Over the past five 
years, we have created over US$3.54bn 
in community value, which, we believe, 
presents a significant investment in 
the economic wellbeing of our host 
communities and the estimated 435,000 
people who reside there. 

At the same time, we need to ensure 
that our mining activities do not 
adversely impact the environment 
around our operations or denude the 
natural resources both our Group 
and host communities depend on. 
Pleasingly, we again recorded zero 
serious environmental incidents for 
the second year in a row – a good 
yardstick of our success in this area. 
Similarly, our high levels of water 
recycling or reuse limited our uptake of 
freshwater from our catchment areas, 
while our continued investment in 
renewables is one of the ways we limit 
our carbon emissions. During 2020, 
we successfully commissioned two 
renewable microgrids at Agnew and 
Granny Smith in Australia. Furthermore, 
now that we have received the relevant 
approvals from the government, South 
Deep will be the next operation in our 
portfolio to build a solar plant, which, 
once operational, expected in Q2 2022, 
will provide about 20% of the mine’s 
electricity needs. 

The most critical part of the Board’s 
duties undoubtedly relates to the 
safety, health and development of the 
Company’s workforce and the Board 
has always shared management’s 
commitment to eliminate all fatalities 
and serious injuries at our operations. 
Over the years, we have seen 
noticeable progress in this area 
emanating from our significant and 
continued investment in safety culture, 
systems and leadership. Tragically, 
however, we again recorded a fatal 
incident in 2020, that of Abel Magajane, 
a shaft timberman at South Deep, as 
well as six serious injuries. We owe it to 
Abel and the many other miners who 
have lost their lives, that we reaffirm our 
commitment to achieving zero harm.

The Board also seeks to further improve 
the diversity and inclusivity of the 
Company’s workforce. While we made 
some progress – with around 20% of 
our workforce and 21% of leadership 
teams now female – we still have a way 
to go to truly reflect the demographics 

of the countries in which we operate. 
Our management team has developed 
a diversity and inclusion dashboard with 
several performance indicators, which 
are part of every manager’s scorecard, 
against which we can benchmark our 
improvements over the coming years. 
The Board will be closely tracking the 
Company’s performance in this regard. 

With the rapid modernisation of our 
mines, we also need to ensure our 
workforce is appropriately skilled to 
meet the challenges of digitisation and 
automation. We are adapting training, 
skills development and recruitment 
policies accordingly to ensure our 
people can succeed in these new ways 
of working.

In recent years, managing 
environmental, social and governance 
(ESG) issues has become an 
increasingly critical consideration for our 
stakeholders – particularly investors. 
To date, Gold Fields has mostly relied 
on internal objectives to guide this 
ESG work; however, stakeholders 
expect that we report more publicly on 
progress in these areas. Together with 
management, the Board is developing a 
range of strategic ESG priorities, which 
we report on in this IAR. Before the end 
of the year, we will finalise and publish 
detailed targets for these priorities – 
ranging from safety to climate change, 
diversity and communities – for 
implementation by 2025. 

Over the past few years, I have had 
the benefit of working with a consistent 
Board and Executive Committee (Exco) 
to govern, guide and manage the 
Company. This year, we saw some 
significant changes. At Board level, 
we accepted the resignation of Rick 
Menell, our Deputy Chairperson since 
2015 and a director since 2008, with 
effect from 10 March 2021. Rick has 
been one of the most influential voices 
on the Board over this period and led 
the search for the new CEO this year. 
I want to thank Rick for his support and 
invaluable contribution.

We also accepted the resignation of 
Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa due to 
her role as Naspers’ CEO. With the 
appointment of Philisiwe Sibiya, we 
found an equally well qualified leader 
with solid business experience. We 
wish Phuthi well in her leadership 
role and welcome Philisiwe to the 
Board. As always, I want to extend my 
gratitude to my fellow directors for their 
support and experience in providing 
Gold Fields with valuable strategic and 
governance oversight.

At executive level, we bid farewell to 

Nick Holland after 24 years with the 
Company – first as Chief Financial 
Officer (CFO) and, from 2008, as CEO. 
Chris Griffith will assume the role of Gold 
Fields’ CEO from 1 April 2021. On behalf 
of the Board, we are delighted to have 
attracted a leader of Chris’ calibre. 
He has an extensive and successful 
leadership track record, amongst 
others, at Anglo American Platinum 
and Kumba Iron Ore, with many years’ 
experience as part of Anglo American’s 
global leadership teams. He has a 
strong track record of building and 
motivating successful teams to achieve 
corporate turnarounds and outstanding 
results. Chris is held in high regard for 
his strong ethical leadership and sound 
governance. We believe that under his 
leadership, Gold Fields will continue to 
grow, building on the solid foundation 
created by Nick, the leadership team 
and our entire workforce of 5,600 
employees.

As Nick retires, he can certainly accept 
credit for a Company that has chartered 
its own course over the past decade, 
relying primarily on organic growth to 
become a global leader in mechanised 
and sustainable gold mining. As he set 
out to accomplish a few years ago, our 
portfolio of mines is now in a strong 
position to maintain production of 
2.0Moz – 2.5Moz per year for the next 
10 years without requiring expensive 
mergers or acquisitions. 

More than just building a strong 
portfolio, Nick has established a 
Company that ensures its stakeholders 
share rightfully and meaningfully in the 
benefits of mining, while also delivering 
strong returns to the investors who 
have entrusted their capital to us. 
Gold Fields is an organisation with 
an unrelenting focus on the safety of 
its employees, its contractors and its 
communities. On his first day as CEO, 
Nick coined the phrase ‘If we cannot 
mine safely, we will not mine’. We have 
lived by this sentiment since then, 
ensuring it has become a mantra within 
Gold Fields and, perhaps, Nick’s most 
significant legacy. 

Nick, you leave Gold Fields with the 
immense gratitude of the Board, 
your management colleagues and 
the Company’s employees. You truly 
deserve all the accolades bestowed 
upon you, and we wish you a well-
deserved retirement.

Cheryl Carolus
Chairperson

9

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT

“Our focus on organic 
growth, backed by 
consistent investment in 
near-mine exploration, has 
allowed us to map our own 
destiny to the benefit of our 
stakeholders.”
Nick Holland

DEAR STAKEHOLDERS
This past year will always be 
remembered as a time when 
Covid-19 caused major losses and 
upheavals to our personal lives while 
disrupting business-as-usual for 
many companies worldwide. Our 
experience at Gold Fields was no 
different, and, tragically, the pandemic 
took the ultimate toll on many of 
our people. As at 29 March 2021, 
10 of our colleagues had tragically 
passed away due to Covid-19-related 
illnesses. My condolences go out to 
their families, friends and colleagues. 
Other colleagues were ill for weeks, 
and all of us had our personal and 
professional lives severely disrupted 
by the stringent regulations and 
protocols implemented to mitigate the 
worst impacts of the pandemic. 

Following a second wave of 
infections around the world in early 
2021, it seems inevitable that these 
disruptions will continue for some 
time to come. We are currently 
looking at strategies on how we 
can continue keeping our people 
safe and how to ensure we make 
vaccines available to them as soon 
as is practical. We are seeking advice 
from medical experts and are working 
with governments, industry forums 
and our peers on the best solution 
for a vaccine roll-out and an eventual 
return to business-as-usual.

Covid-19 inevitably affected the 
Company’s 2020 operational 
performance, albeit marginally. 
Attributable gold-equivalent 
production of 2.236Moz in 2020 was 
2% higher than 2019 production and 

within the revised guidance range 
of 2.200Moz – 2.250Moz. However, 
we had to revise our original 2020 
guidance of 2.275Moz – 2.315Moz 
in May to take into account the 
78koz lost due to Covid-19-related 
shutdowns at South Deep (32koz) 
and Cerro Corona (46koz).

All-in costs (AIC) for 2020 were 
US$1,079/oz, 1% higher than 2019 
(US$1,064/oz) and within the revised 
guidance range. All-in sustaining 
costs (AISC) for the year were 
US$977/oz (2019: US$897/oz), 
again within the revised guidance 
range. These costs were slightly 
above the original 2020 guidance as 
our operations spent approximately 
US$30m on Covid-19-related 
initiatives and interventions. This 
includes investments in testing 

 GOLD FIELDS SHARE PRICE 2010 – 2020 
During 2020, our share price on both the JSE and NYSE 
improved by 46% and 42% respectively, on the back of 
respective increases of 94% and 88% during 2019. While 
the shares have retreated from their record highs reached 
in August 2020, when the gold price hit its all-time high of 
US$2,070/oz, we are still offering shareholders substantive 
returns and healthy dividends. Shareholders who owned 
1,000 Gold Fields shares on 1 January 2010, held on to the 
1,000 Sibanye Gold stocks (now Sibanye-Stillwater) they would 
have been awarded after its unbundling in February 2013, 
would have been rewarded with a total return of 105% by 
31 December 2020. That is an annual return of 7% on their 
investment. 

Rand

250

200

150

100

50

0

AUGUST 2010 
South Deep’s new 
mining licence, 
BEE deal approved

FEBRUARY 2013
eatrix mines 
Kloof, Driefontein and Beatrix mines 
unbundled into Sibanye Gold
Gold

JUNE 2013
0% during 2013
Gold price plunges by 30% during 2013

10

2010

2011

2012

2013

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY

equipment and facilities, specialised 
camp accommodation, additional 
labour costs and transport facilities. 
It also included donations to 
governments and host communities 
to assist them in their fight against 
the pandemic.

However, on the whole, Gold Fields 
managed these disruptions well and 
continued on its growth trajectory 
of the preceding years. The higher 
gold price – a consequence, in part, 
of the economic fallout from the 
pandemic – certainly helped. The 
average gold price of US$1,768/oz 
during 2020 was 27% higher than the 
average price received in 2019. But, 
equally important, our management 
teams dealt with the challenges 
of the pandemic extremely well, 
maintaining sustainable and profitable 
production while at the same time 
safeguarding the health and safety of 
our employees and contractors. 

Our mines in Western Australia, which 
did not report any positive Covid-19 
cases, exceeded 1.0Moz of gold 
production for the first time since 
2015. Our Ghanaian operations, 
including the Asanko JV, boosted 
output by 3%. Even South Deep and 
Cerro Corona, which had to close 
or curtail mining and processing 
activities for several weeks due to 
government-imposed restrictions, 
reported stable production levels and 
lower costs during 2020. 

Our 2020 financial performance 
reflected these solid operational 
efforts and higher gold price. Our 
mines generated cash-flow of 
US$868m (2019: US$552m), while 
net cash-flow reached a record 
US$631m (2019: US$249m). 

OUR VALUE-CREATION STRATEGY 

STRATEGIC PILLARS:

Gold Fields’ growth over the past 
10 years has been driven by an 
integrated value-creation strategy 
aimed at delivering our vision of global 
leadership in sustainable gold mining. 
This strategy is captured in our BSC 
and comprises four overarching focus 
areas – organisational capacity, internal 
business processes, stakeholders and 
financial performance.  

While our operating environment over 
the past decade saw some significant 
changes, we remained committed to 
these focus areas regardless of the 
challenges we faced and, in doing so, 
unlocked the potential of our globally 
diversified business. With the Group 
BSC at the centre of our strategy, we 
subsequently identified seven strategic 
pillars that drive our performance across 
the Company. Each pillar has specific 
key performance indicators linked to our 
BSC to ensure we create holistic and 
sustainable value for our stakeholders. 

On p17 – 21, we look at each of these 
pillars in our strategic journey and track 
the key operational, financial, stakeholder 
and sustainability trends of the past 
10 years.

The key corporate milestones in our 
strategic journey are highlighted in the 
share price graph below.

SAFETY AND 
WELLBEING OF OUR 
PEOPLE

 For details – p50

DEVELOPING A 
FIT-FOR-PURPOSE 
WORKFORCE 

 For details – p56

 CREATING A GLOBAL, 
SUSTAINABLE 
PORTFOLIO 

 For details – p60

PROFITABLE 
PRODUCTION AND 
SUSTAINABLE  
CASH-FLOW

 For details – p68

CAPITAL ALLOCATION 
AND SOUND BALANCE 
SHEET MANAGEMENT

 For details – p74

VALUE CREATION FOR 
STAKEHOLDERS 
 For details – p81

ENVIRONMENTAL 
STEWARDSHIP

 For details – p96

13
OCTOBER 2013
Gold Fields buys Barrick’s Granny 
uys Barrick’s Granny 
Smith, Lawlers and Darlot mines 
rs and Darlot mines 
in Australia 

MARCH 2016
Development  
na 
agreement with Ghana 
government signed

MARCH 2018 
MARCH 201
Gold Fields buys 45% of 
Gold Fields b
Asanko mine in Ghana
Asanko mine

019
JUNE 2019
Gruyere 
e 
es 
produces 
first gold
d

13 
OCTOBER 2013 
xploration 
Growth and exploration 
division closed
d

R 2016 
OCTOBER 2016 
reinvestment 
Damang reinvestment 
plan approved
oved

AUGUST – DECEMBER 
AU
20
2018 South Deep 
restructuring announced; 
res
7-week NUM strike
7-

AUGUST 2020
AUGUST 202
Gold price hits record 
Gold price hit
of US$2,067/oz
of US$2,067/

FEBRUARY 2020
FEBRUARY 2020
Board approves Salares 
Board approves Sala
Norte construction
Norte construction

JANUARY 2021
Announcement of new CEO

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

11

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT CONTINUED

Net debt reduced by almost 
US$600m to US$1,069m, resulting 
in a net debt:EBITDA ratio of 0.56x at 
end-December 2020 (2019: 1.29x). 
Historically our target level for the 
net debt:EBITDA ratio has been 
around 1x. However, we have been 
opportunistically reducing our debt 
given higher gold price of late and 
could well be at or close to net zero 
within 18 months

Headline earnings increased more 
than four-fold to US$729m (2019: 
US$163m) and normalised profits 
more than doubled to US$879m 
(2019: US$343m). Shareholders 
received a total dividend of R4.80/
share, three times our distribution of 
R1.60/share in 2019. Our total value 
distribution to stakeholders increased 
to US$2,849m from US$2,577m 
in 2019. 

The pandemic did not disrupt the 
continued improvements to the 
quality of our portfolio of mines and 
projects. Four years ago, and in 
contrast to the consolidation activities 
among our peers at the time, Gold 
Fields embarked on a US$1bn 
investment drive to ensure that our 
portfolio continued to generate cash 
sustainably by lowering AIC and 
extending mine life while preserving 
a sound balance sheet. In 2019, we 
saw the benefits of our investment 
programme for the first time in the 
form of improved profits and cash-
flows, as well as lower costs. This 
trend continued strongly into 2020.

The key elements of the programme 
were essentially two new mines, 
Gruyere in Australia and the Damang 
Pit Cutback in Ghana, which 
contributed US$66m and US$76m 
respectively to Group net cash-flow in 
2020. In 2018, we also acquired a 45% 
stake in the Asanko mine in Ghana for 
US$185m, with our JV partner Galiano 
Gold, which manages the mine, holding 
45%, and the Ghanaian government 
the remaining 10%. 

In February 2020, our Board decided 
to go ahead with the construction of 
the Salares Norte project in Chile, with 
construction proceeding as planned 
during the year, and set for completion 
in late 2022. Once operational, which 
is expected in 2023, Salares Norte 
is expected to add 450koz gold-

12

equivalent production per year for the 
first seven years at AIC of US$465/
oz – one of the lowest in the industry. 
A successful equity raise of US$250m 
in February 2020 positions us to 
comfortably fund the project within our 
debt targets.

Another important element of our 
growth strategy was the continued 
investment in near-mine exploration 
at our Australian mines and, more 
recently, at Tarkwa and Damang in 
Ghana. As a result, we have been 
able to consistently replace and 
exceed the volumes of depleted 
Mineral Reserves. Over the past five 
years, since the December 2015 
declaration, the Group has replaced 
11.5Moz in depleted Reserves and 
added a further 4.5Moz through 
its successful exploration activities, 
technical studies and project 
investment. Gold Fields’ attributable 
gold-equivalent Mineral Reserves 
were 50.3Moz at the end of 2020, 
an increase of 2% from 2019, with 
our Australian mines replacing 
8% of depleted Mineral Reserves. 
Attributable gold-equivalent Mineral 
Resources were 116.0Moz (2019: 
116.0Moz).

The final pillar of our portfolio strategy 
was to set up our South Deep mine in 
South Africa for safe, sustainable and 
profitable production. While South 
Deep was the one in our portfolio 
hardest hit by Covid-19-related 
restrictions, it continues to report real 
progress and a strong financial and 
operational improvement. In 2019, 
South Deep stemmed its decade-long 
cash-burn by generating US$15m in 
net cash-flow. With 2020 production 
up 2% to 227koz and AIC unchanged 
at US$1,260/oz, net cash-flow 
improved even further, increasing 
by 123% to US$34m. My cautious 
optimism last year has been replaced 
by strong confidence that the mine is 
on the right track to generate long-
term, sustainable cash-flows and 
profits.

I want to reiterate my statement from 
last year: Gold Fields is now a senior 
producer in the top 10 league of 
global gold miners both in terms of 
Reserves and production. We are in a 
strong position to maintain production 
of 2.0Moz – 2.5Moz per year for the 

next 10 years, of which over 2.0Moz 
will be outside of our South African 
base. This is a level of production 
our mines in Ghana, Australia and 
Peru achieved in 2019 and 2020. 
Furthermore, once Salares Norte 
comes on stream, expected in 2023, 
we will have a portfolio of 10 mines – 
a size we consider optimal as it allows 
management to properly focus on 
operations.

As we have shown over the past few 
years, we do not require expensive 
mergers and acquisitions to achieve 
sustainable and profitable growth 
for our shareholders. Instead, our 
focus on organic growth, backed by 
consistent investment in near-mine 
exploration, has allowed us to map 
our own destiny to the benefit of 
our stakeholders. 

ESG
Our commitment to safe production 
continues to underpin our operational 
performance. During 2020, we 
sought further improvements in terms 
of our safety leadership, processes, 
systems and culture. Tragically, we 
lost one employee at South Deep, 
Abel Magajane, after an underground 
mining incident. I would like to again 
express my condolences to his family. 

We also reported six serious injuries 
(2019: four) across the Group. Our 
total recordable injury frequency rate 
(TRIFR) regressed to 2.40 per million 
hours worked (2019: 2.19). However, 
this remains below the industry norm 
of 3.20 (ICMM members – 2019 
average). The physical distancing 
restrictions we imposed because of 
Covid-19 slowed down the roll-out of 
Courageous Safety Leadership (CSL) 
– our flagship safety programme – but 
we expect to complete this during 
2021, having already trained over 
half of our employees.  

One of the few positives emerging 
from the Covid-19 crisis has been 
the strong focus on the health of our 
employees and host communities. 
Safety has always been our number 
one value, but the pandemic forced 
us to give equal attention to the 
health and wellness of our people. 
Once the crisis is over, what we will 
retain going forward is the ability to 
test our workers for occupational 
and non-occupational diseases, 

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY

as well as understanding their mental 
wellbeing, and support them through 
any recovery processes.

Furthermore, the pandemic served as 
a catalyst to work more cooperatively 
with our key stakeholders — trade 
unions, communities, industry 
peers and governments. With 
Covid-19 threatening the livelihoods 
of employees and the tax income 
of governments, we found more 
common ground with these 
stakeholders. In most of the countries 
where we operate, governments 
declared mining an essential service, 
allowing us to continue operating 
when other sectors’ activities were 
curtailed. In return, we and other 
mining companies actively supported 
governments by providing facilities, 
health resources and much-needed 
funding. During 2020, our mines 
donated well over US$3m in medical 
and sanitary equipment and other 
services to host communities and 
governments.

In 2020, we continued to focus 
on driving our in-country and host 
community economic impact. 
Of the US$2.85bn in value created 
during 2020 (2019: US$2.58bn), 
US$676m, or 28%, remained in our 
host communities through wages, 
procurement spend and investments 
in socio-economic development. 
Approximately 53% of our workforce, 
8,752 people, are employed from 
our host communities. In addition, 
we created 672 (2019: 504) non-
mining jobs through our community 
investment programmes. Over the 
past five years, we have created 
between US$600m – US$800m 
in community value every year. 
Cumulatively, this amounts to over 
US$3.54bn which, we believe, 
presents a significant investment in 
the economic wellbeing of our host 
communities and their estimated 
435,000 residents. 

This year, we strengthened our 
commitment to diversity and 
inclusivity among our workforce. 
We aim to have a workforce profile 
that reflects the demographics of the 
countries and communities in which 
we operate. While we have made 
progress in this regard – particularly 
at South Deep, where Historically 

Disadvantaged South Africans 
(HDSAs) now comprise 73% of the 
workforce, and women 23% – we are 
falling short when it comes to broader 
gender diversity across the Company. 
Only 20% of our Group workforce 
and leadership teams are women. 

During 2020, we rolled out a Group 
diversity and inclusion dashboard that 
not only measures the representation 
of women at all levels in the Company 
but also evaluates lead indicators in 
the areas of inclusivity, recruitment, 
talent management, employee 
retention and corporate culture. 
As we improve these lead indicators, 
we believe that more women will join 
and remain at Gold Fields.

Climate change is undoubtedly one 
of the defining global challenges 
society is facing today. Gold Fields 
has made considerable progress in 
mitigating our contribution to climate 
change. Our efforts are led by energy 
savings and efficiency initiatives, 
which enabled us to save 804kt CO2e 
in emissions over the past six years – 
with the added benefit of cost savings 
for our operations. 

Similarly, our recent investment in 
renewable energy projects not only 
secured stable and cost-effective 
energy supplies for our mines, but 
also reduced their carbon emissions. 
During 2020, we commissioned 
renewable microgrids, supported by 
battery storage, at our Agnew and 
Granny Smith mines in Australia. 
Agnew became the first gold mine 
in the world to derive over 50% of 
its power from renewable energy 
sources, mostly wind turbines 
supported by a solar plant and low-
carbon gas. We have furthermore 
advanced plans to introduce 
renewables at Gruyere and St Ives, 
as well as Salares Norte when it starts 
operating in 2023. 

In February 2021, South Africa’s 
national regulator approved the 
electricity generation licence for South 
Deep’s 40MW solar plant, following a 
three-year application process. Once 
approved by the Board, construction 
of the plant is set to take a year. 
The project will provide up to 20% 
of South Deep’s average electricity 
consumption and significantly reduce 
the mine’s carbon emissions. 

Haulage diesel for our mining fleet 
accounts for half of the Group’s 
energy consumption. We are 
increasingly focusing on initiatives 
to reduce this, such as diesel-gas 
hybrid vehicles and, more ambitiously, 
looking at ways to introduce electric 
vehicles underground. Through 
the International Council on Mining 
& Metals (ICMM), we are working 
with our peers and equipment 
manufacturers to accelerate the 
development of electric vehicles for 
our primary fleet which, once rolled 
out, will have the added benefit of 
markedly reducing Diesel Particulate 
Matter (DPM) emissions from 
underground operations. 

We have also improved our 
transparency around climate change 
issues by aligning our reporting with 
the recommendations of the Task 
Force on Climate-related Financial 
Disclosures (TCFD). We published our 
third TCFD-aligned Climate Change 
Report in conjunction with this IAR.

Sound management of water 
resources is another critical issue that 
has taken on renewed urgency as the 
climate changes, particularly in South 
Africa, Peru, Chile and Australia, 
which are water-stressed countries. 
Water is, of course, also a critical 
input for our processing activities. 
We have no option but to use water 
efficiently, which requires that we 
reduce our demand for freshwater 
from surrounding catchment areas. 
We set two key targets to ensure we 
efficiently manage our water usage. 
These are, firstly, reducing freshwater 
use by 3% – 5% a year and, 
secondly, recycling and reusing at 
least 70% of our water. We achieved 
both targets during 2020.

Our commitment to responsibly 
use our water resources is integral 
to sound environment stewardship 
at our operations. During 2020, for 
the second consecutive year, Gold 
Fields again recorded no serious 
environmental incidents. This is 
an important achievement, as 
environmental incidents could also 
potentially impact the communities 
around us and our social licence to 
operate.

The mining industry’s environmental 
practices have been in the spotlight 

13

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT CONTINUED

following the catastrophic collapse 
of the tailings storage facility (TSF) 
at Vale’s Córrego do Feijão iron 
ore mine near Brumadinho, Brazil, 
in January 2019, which killed 270 
people. Subsequent to this tragedy, 
ESG-focused investors and the 
United Nations (UN) Environment 
Programme engaged the industry 
through the ICMM to develop a 
new standard for managing tailings. 
In August 2020, the parties officially 
launched the Global Industry 
Standard on Tailings Management 
(GISTM), strengthening current 
practices by integrating social, 
environmental, economic and 
technical considerations. ICMM 
members have until August 2025 to 
fully implement the standard at all 
their TSFs, but all facilities that have 
high-potential consequences will have 
to conform to the standard two years 
earlier. Gold Fields is set to complete 
a gap analysis at its 37 TSFs by mid-

2021, after which we will commence 
work to close all identified gaps.

ESG CHARTER
Over the past decade, Gold Fields 
has integrated environmental, social 
and governance issues into the 
operational management of our 
mines and projects. Managing safety 
has always been an operational 
responsibility. 

In recent years, successfully 
managing ESG issues has become 
a critical consideration for our 
stakeholders, particularly investors, 
who increasingly expect that we 
transparently disclose the impact of 
and how we manage ESG, as well as 
whether these align with Gold Fields’ 
strategy. Many of our peers have 
committed to performance targets, 
especially on climate change.

To date, Gold Fields has mostly 
used internal objectives to guide the 

GOLD FIELDS STRATEGIC ESG PRIORITIES

Strategic priorities

Objectives

Strategic intents

ESG work we do at our operations. 
We have decided to integrate 
high-level priorities into an ESG 
Charter to drive longer-term goals 
and are finalising detailed targets 
for implementation by 2025. These 
targets will be released later in 2021.

As we have for some time, we 
will again be including ESG-linked 
performance targets in the Group’s 
Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for this 
year (see p26) and in the long-
term, three-year incentive plans 
for our senior employees (see our 
Remuneration Report in the AFR 
on p26 – 54).

Our ESG priorities are associated 
with wide-ranging objectives and 
strategic intents, including some 
previous public commitments. These 
are outlined in the table below, with 
details provided in the respective 
sections in this IAR:

Details

p51

p52

Partnering to ensure the 
safety, health and wellbeing 
of our workforce and 
alleviating such impacts 
on our communities

Build a diverse and 
inclusive workplace

Unlocking business, 
community and 
stakeholder value

Eliminating fatalities, 
serious injuries, 
illnesses and mental 
harm that could 
arise from our mining 
activities

Increase the 
proportion of women 
and Indigenous 
People in our 
workforce

Maximise in-country 
and host community 
employment and 
procurement

Pursuing decarbonisation 
and building resilience 
to climate change in line 
with our commitment to 
the Paris Agreement for a 
just transition to net-zero 
carbon emissions

Reduce carbon 
emissions, freshwater 
use and exposure 
to climate-related 
risks to operations, 
stakeholders and the 
environment

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Zero fatalities and serious injuries at our operations

Eliminate vehicular incidents by implementing 
advanced collision avoidance technologies

Significantly reduce underground exposure to DPM p54

Minimise health and environmental impacts on our 
host communities

Increase the proportion of women in our workforce, 
including women in leadership and women in 
mining in all our operating regions

Maximise Group host community employment

Maximise Group host community procurement 
spend

Maximise Group in-country procurement

Continue pursuing carbon emissions reductions at 
all our operations

Increase Group renewable energy use and include 
at least 20% renewables in all new projects

Introduce electric vehicles in our underground 
operations

p89

p59

p85

p84

p84

p100

p101

p73

12. Reduce freshwater use and optimise Group water 

p99

recycling and reuse levels

Safe and responsible 
tailings management

13. Achieve and maintain compliance with the GISTM 

p103

as committed to by ICMM members

Full compliance with the 
2020 Global Industry 
Standard on Tailings 
Management 

14

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
Of the external strategic dynamics 
that inform Gold Fields’ decision-
making and influence our business 
performance, the gold price is the 
most significant. During 2020, the 
gold price continued the upturn that 
started early in 2019, when gold was 
trading at around US$1,300/oz. The 
metal traded at US$1,530/oz at the 
beginning of 2020, and hit an all-time 
high of US$2,070/oz in August before 
easing back to around US$1,800/
oz at year-end and US$1,700/oz 
in March 2021. The average gold 
price received by our mines during 
2020 amounted to US$1,768/oz, a 
27% increase from the US$1,388/oz 
received in 2019. 

The fluctuating gold price reflects 
the volatile external environment 
amid global economic and political 
uncertainties and, above all, 
the impact of Covid-19. Drivers 
supporting gold include increasing 
global debt, an expectation of higher 
inflation in key economies, continued 
low rates of interest, central bank 
support and continued geopolitical 
risks. This is tempered by reduced 
fabrication and jewellery demand for 
the metal.

While much of the gold price’s 
short-term movement is driven by 
market sentiment and geopolitical 
developments, gold’s role as an 
investment medium is still as relevant 
today as it has been for decades. 
Furthermore, primary supply appears 
to have peaked and years of 
underinvestment in the industry have 
set the scene for flat to lower gold 
production even in the face of higher 
prices. Mine supply, which in 2019 
showed its first decline in 10 years, 
continued to decrease by 4% during 
2020 according to the World Gold 
Council. Many gold market analysts 
are of the view that the industry 
has reached peak production levels 
given the limited number of new gold 
discoveries since the mid-1990s, 
together with the decreased levels of 
exploration spend over recent years. 
This could influence gold positively in 
the longer term. 

We believe that capital expenditure 
in the industry has to increase, with 
companies needing to invest in new 

projects and exploration activities to 
maintain current production levels. 
In our assessment, the recent spate 
of consolidation in the industry is a 
response to the under-investment 
in capex in recent years even in the 
wake of higher gold prices.

Gold Fields does not seek to 
predict the gold price. We expect 
volatility and structure our business 
accordingly to achieve a 15% FCF 
margin around a planning gold price 
of US$1,300/oz. Beyond that, we 
seek to maximise value by:
• Prioritising cash-flow over 

production volumes

• Eliminating marginal mining 
• Hedging a portion of our gold 

production in times of high capex 
and debt

Therefore, we believe the Group is in 
a relatively strong state to weather a 
sustained lower gold price at just over 
US$1,000/oz, and well positioned to 
capture the upside of the higher price 
as we did in 2020.

Other external dynamics that 
impacted Gold Fields during 2020 
were:
• The Covid-19 pandemic – see p53, 

57 and 87

• Resource nationalism – see p92
• Social licence to operate – see p82

OUTLOOK FOR 2021
This year will see another big capital 
investment for Gold Fields, with total 
capital expenditure (capex) guidance 
of US$1,177m for the year, of which 
US$538m is sustaining capital. 
Of the US$639m in project capital, 
US$508m will be allocated to Salares 
Norte, which is expected to be 70% 
complete by end-2021. Salares Norte 
will have a significant impact on Gold 
Fields’ long-term production and cost 
profile, as the mine will be producing 
450koz gold-equivalent production 
per year for the first seven years at 
AIC of US$465/oz – one of the lowest 
in the industry.

In 2021, Group attributable production 
is expected to be higher at 2.30Moz 
– 2.35Moz. Given the high capital 
spend, AIC is set to be between 
US$1,310/oz – US$1,350/oz. 
Excluding capital spend on Salares 
Norte, we expect AIC of US$1,090/oz 
– US$1,130/oz. AISC is guided at 
US$1,020/oz – US$1,060/oz. 

The main drivers behind production 
and cost guidance for 2021 are:
• A 27% increase in production at 

South Deep to 290koz. The mine’s 
management team has a clear 
understanding of the operation and 
the different activities in the mining 
value chain. Looking beyond 2021, 
we are confident that a further 
20% – 30% can be added to 
production levels over the next four 
years

• Damang is moving into the heart 
of the Damang pit ore body. As 
such, the mine is guiding 23% 
higher production at 275koz and at 
significantly lower AIC of US$790/oz 
(2020: US$1,035/oz)

• Following its first full year of 

production during 2020, the Gruyere 
team is meeting production and 
processing targets. For 2021, the 
mine is guiding for production 
to increase by 9% to 280koz 
(100% basis)

The risk of stoppages due to Covid-19 
has not been factored into any 
guidance estimates and the extent of 
Covid-19 impacts on either production 
or costs is indeterminable at this stage. 

Gold Fields’ 2021 business plans  
are based on an average gold 
price of US$1,600/oz (A$2,100/oz, 
R900,000/kg).

NOTE OF THANKS
By the time you read this, I will have 
officially departed as Gold Fields’ 
CEO, and Chris Griffith would have 
stepped into the position on 1 April 
2021. I want to welcome Chris to the 
Company and assure him that he is 
leading an organisation that is sound, 
sustainable and imbued with the right 
values. Above all, he will be working 
with a formidable group of people and 
can take comfort in the knowledge 
that this team will be behind him as 
he leads Gold Fields into the future.

I have been with Gold Fields in a 
leadership position since it was 
formed through the merger of 
Gold Fields of South Africa and 
Gencor’s gold assets in late 1997. 
My first 11 years were spent as 
CFO and, since 2008, I served as 
the Company’s CEO. It has been an 
eventful and sometimes tumultuous 
journey but, above all, enormously 
rewarding and humbling. 

15

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT CONTINUED

The Gold Fields of today is 
unrecognisable from the company 
we founded 23 years ago. Most 
notably, the Company has expanded 
into a more global and modernised 
operation, while still retaining its 
roots in South Africa. I can honestly 
say with confidence that our current 
portfolio of mines is well positioned 
to create financial and economic 
benefits for its stakeholders on a 
standalone basis for years to come.

I am equally proud of the changes 
we instilled relating to our people, 
external stakeholders – particularly 
our host communities – and the 
environment we impact. The 
Company has an unshakable 
commitment to sustainability and 
our stakeholders are accruing real 
value from our mining activities. 
Environmental stewardship also 
enjoys a high priority among our 
management teams.

Our achievements would not have 
been possible without the full backing 
of the people of Gold Fields. I had 
the pleasure of meeting and getting 
to know as many of you as I could 
during my travels across the regions. 
Each and every one of you has made 
a valuable contribution to the success 

MESSAGE FROM THE INCOMING CEO
As I step into the CEO role at Gold 
Fields, I want to first and foremost 
acknowledge the great work done by 
Nick Holland, his management team 
and all the employees at the Company. 

It is a credit to Nick that, since he 
took over in 2008, the Company has 
been fundamentally transformed from 
a South Africa-centric and labour-
intensive operation to one that is 
global, sustainable and ethical. It is a 
company I believe embodies global 
leadership in sustainable gold mining.

The strong performance and 
reputation of the Company is built 
on a number of pillars, and, together 
with the corporate and regional 
management teams, I plan to build 
on these successes.

These include the work Gold Fields 
has done in the area of sustainability, 
spearheaded by an uncompromising 
commitment to safety and health. 
But it also includes the Company’s 

16

of our Company. While we have jointly 
experienced some difficult times over 
the past few years, including wide-
ranging restructuring initiatives and 
the Covid-19 pandemic, I believe we 
have emerged from them stronger. 
I extend my most sincere gratitude to 
you, my colleagues, recognising your 
commitment, resilience and expertise.  

I have naturally worked more closely 
with some of you more than others. 
Paul Schmidt, our CFO, has been my 
right-hand man from the day I took 
over as CEO. He has always been a 
voice of financial reason, for which 
I continue to be extremely grateful. 
I also relied heavily on the members of 
the Company’s Executive Committee, 
who guided and advised me in 
managing a complex multinational 
organisation. 

Finally, I would like to express 
my sincere gratitude to my fellow 
directors over the past 26 years. 
As CFO and CEO, I have had the 
privilege of working with a number 
of visionary Chairpersons: Brian 
Gilbertson, Alan Wright, Dr Mamphela 
Ramphele and, over the past eight 
years, Cheryl Carolus. They each 
provided valuable oversight and 
effective governance, while mapping 

environmental stewardship, particularly 
its roll-out of renewable energy, and its 
ground-breaking work on community 
value creation through host community 
employment and procurement. 

On the operational front, all the mines 
are at present contributing positively 
to the Group’s cash-flow and investing 
in their longevity by replacing depleted 
Mineral Reserves and Resources. The 
Group’s longer-term sustainability is 
ensured with the prospective, low-cost 
Salares Norte project in Chile, currently 
under construction. 

There is clearly always room for 
improvement and I will be working with 
the teams on enhancing their financial 
and operational excellence, including 
further implementing innovation and 
digital technologies to improve safety, 
costs and efficiencies.

Not surprisingly, many stakeholders 
want to know if I will fundamentally 
change the strategy or portfolio of 
the Company. I will take my time to 

the strategy that led to Gold Fields’ 
successful transformation. I want to 
express a special note of gratitude 
to Rick Menell, who has been on the 
Board since I took over as CEO in 
2008. His guidance on our corporate 
transactions and strategy in particular, 
has been invaluable over these years.

I leave Gold Fields with one major 
regret – that we still record fatalities 
and injuries at our operations. On the 
day I took office as CEO on 1 May 
2008, nine miners at South Deep 
died when the cage they were being 
transported in plummeted down a 
shaft. At the end of that year, we 
reported an unfathomable 47 deaths. 
I have prioritised safe production by 
making safety our number one value. 
While our safety performance has 
significantly improved since then, 
even last year we still recorded one 
fatality and six serious injuries. Our 
goal of achieving zero harm proved 
to be elusive during my tenure, but 
I sincerely believe we have built the 
foundations to achieve this in the 
imminent future. 

Nick Holland
CEO

fully understand the business, its 
operations and the leadership team 
before taking a closer look at these 
wider strategic issues. Having said 
that, the gold market is very dynamic 
at the moment and it would be remiss 
of us not to be alert to opportunities 
that may add shareholder value.

Taking over the helm at Gold Fields is 
a great opportunity – and challenge. 
I look forward to working with one of 
the industry’s leading teams to build on 
the foundation laid by Nick. I want to 
thank him again for his leadership and 
wish him well in his retirement.

Chris Griffith
Incoming CEO

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OVERVIEW OF STRATEGIC PILLARS

SAFETY AND WELLBEING OF OUR PEOPLE

2020 PERFORMANCE
Recorded one fatality (2019: one) 
and six serious injuries (2019: four)

TRIFR regressed to 2.40 per million 
hours worked (2019: 2.19)

Recorded 10 Covid-19-related 
deaths among our employees  
(up to 29 March 2021)

Rolled out extensive Covid-19 
intervention programmes

CSL programme rolled out to 50% 
of employees

First pay-outs to ex-mineworkers 
suffering from Silicosis in South 
Africa made from the Tshiamiso 
Trust

Developed a Group health guideline

  For more details on our 2020 

performance, refer to p50 – p55.

The Covid-19 pandemic has 
further highlighted the impact of 
non-occupational diseases on our 
business. Our operations in Ghana 
and South Africa have long assisted 
our employees in dealing with Malaria 
and HIV/Aids, among others, and our 
approach to mitigating the effects 
of Covid-19 was no different. More 
recently, our operations have also 
introduced programmes to prevent 
and mitigate risks associated with 
mental health issues among our 
people.

Safety is Gold Fields’ number one 
value, and our operations continue to 
mine only as long as it is safe to do 
so. Over the past decade, we made 
significant progress in our efforts 
to eliminate all fatalities and serious 
injuries at our operations. Unbundling 
our labour-intensive legacy South 
African gold mines to Sibanye Gold 
(now Sibanye-Stillwater) in February 
2013 immediately reduced both the 
number of fatalities at our operations 
and our TRIFR, the foremost indicator 
used in the global mining sector 
to measure safety performance. 
However, since then, we continue to 
record at least one fatality every year, 
as we did in 2020. We also recorded 
six serious injuries during 2020.

Over the past few years, all our mines 
have transitioned to the ISO 45001 
safety management system that 
enables an integrated approach 
to health and safety management. 
Furthermore, safety management 
informs the annual performance 
bonuses of our executives, managers 
and the broader workforce. 

In 2018, we formed a Group Safety 
Leadership forum and introduced 

SAFETY TRENDS FROM 2010 TO 2020

Number of fatalities

a range of programmes to drive 
the right behaviours across our 
business. First among them is our 
CSL programme, which aims to equip 
our employees with the practical 
tools needed to become safety 
leaders. Over 50% of our employees 
completed the CSL programme 
and, once this programme has 
been rolled out to all employees, 
we plan to extend our Australian 
behaviour-based programme, Vital 
Behaviours, throughout the Group. 
We are simultaneously implementing 
a range of new technology systems 
to enhance our employees’ safety, 
including people tracking, collision 
avoidance and traffic management. 

Over the past 10 years, we have 
steadily intensified our efforts to 
prevent occupational diseases 
and health issues that impact our 
workforce. These include health 
risks associated with Noise-
Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), DPM, 
Silicosis and Tuberculosis (TB). 
We comply with all occupational 
health regulations and, in countries 
where regulations have not been 
promulgated, we follow industry best 
practice standards. 

20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

4.96

5.16

4.39

4.14

4.04

3.40

2.27

2.42

2.19

2.40

1.83

8
1

0
2

6
1

2

2

4

3

2010

2011

2012

20131

2014

2015

2016

(cid:132) Fatalities
1 Transitioned from Lost-Time Injury Frequency Rate to TRIFR, Sibanye Gold mines excluded for the first time

(cid:132) Total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) (per million hours worked)1

1

2017

3

1

1

2018

2019

2020

TRIFR

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

17

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

DEVELOPING A FIT-FOR-PURPOSE WORKFORCE

2020 PERFORMANCE
Improved gender diversity – women 
comprise 20% of our global 
workforce, of which 50% are women 
in mining and 21% are in leadership

86% of employees are nationals of 
the regions in which we operate

US$676m of our value created 
remained with our host communities

53% of our employees are from  
our host communities

73% of the total workforce at  
South Deep are HDSAs

  For more details on our 2020 

performance, refer to p56 – p59.

demographics of the countries in 
which we operate. To achieve this, we 
need to address unconscious bias in 
the workplace, capitalise on the value 
diverse perspectives bring to Gold 
Fields, and attract candidates from 
underrepresented backgrounds and 
host communities. While our definition 
of diversity extends beyond gender 
alone, we are aware that women only 
account for 20% of our employees 
across the Group and, therefore, 
enhancing gender diversity is a key 
focus area going forward. 

As Gold Fields evolved over the past 
10 years, so has our workforce profile. 
The most notable manifestation 
of the Sibanye Gold unbundling 
was the dramatic decrease in our 
workforce by about 30,000 people. 
Another feature of the past decade 
is increased modernisation at all our 
mines, which has required a change 
in the skills level of our employees. 
It has therefore become critical that 
we repositioned ourselves to build a 
pipeline of talent that will strengthen 
the sustainability of the Group. 

Attracting and retaining the right 
skills starts with competitive, market-
related and performance-based 
remuneration while also embracing 
modern working practices, such as 
flexible work arrangements. More 
than this, however, it also requires 
continued investment in training 
and development to meet the future 
needs of an increasingly mechanised, 
modernising and automated mining 
industry. We are also responsible 
for ensuring a safe and healthy 
workplace for our people, and for 
being a company they can be proud 
of by investing in the sustainability of 
our operations and the welfare of the 
communities we impact.

Our workforce profile has also 
changed in other ways. As at 
end-2020, contract workers across 
our regions accounted for about 
two-thirds of our total workforce. 
This necessitates close contractor 
management and ensuring that 
contractors align with Gold Fields’ 
values, policies and procedures – 
particularly those relating to safety, 
human rights and environmental 
management.

A second defining trend over the past 
decade has been the increased focus 
on host community employment. 
Members from our host communities 
now make up over half of our 
workforce, which aligns with our 
strategy of creating value for the 
communities in the regions where 
we operate. 

Finally, our workforce has become 
more diverse and transformed – 
particularly in South Africa, where 
Historically Disadvantaged Persons 
(HDPs) are increasingly assuming a 
larger share of leadership positions. 
However, we recognise that we still 
have a long way to go before our 
workforce fully reflects the varying 

WORKFORCE BY GROUP AND REGION (end-December)

          Total workforce

Employees

Contractors

Proportion of 
Nationals1

2020

4,268

2,998

4,027

7,003

116

18,412

2010

346

562

43,8222

2,538

98

47,268

2020

568

1,668

2,226

1,063

116

5,641

2020

3,700

1,330

1,801

5,940

0

12,771

2020

98%

78%

84%

99%

75%

86%

Americas

Australia

South Africa

West Africa

Corporate

Total

1 Employees only (not contractors)
2 Workforce pre-Sibanye unbundling

18

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OVERVIEW OF STRATEGIC PILLARS

CREATING A GLOBAL, SUSTAINABLE PORTFOLIO

2020 PERFORMANCE
Achieved the first full year of 
production at Gruyere

Damang Reinvestment project 
bearing fruit

Commenced construction of the 
Salares Norte project in Chile

Invested US$50m in near-mine 
exploration, mostly at our Australian 
mines

South Deep recovery continues

Increased Mineral Reserves to 
52.1Moz and Mineral Resources 
to 116.0Moz

  For more details on our 2020 

performance, refer to p60 – p67.

We promote the sustainability of 
our portfolio by investing in near-
mine exploration, which averaged 
between US$50m – US$80m a year 
over the past five years. Since 2013, 
our Mineral Reserves position has 
remained relatively stable at around 
50Moz as our successful exploration 
drives have replaced and exceeded 
the volumes of depleted Mineral 
Reserves. 

Now, Gold Fields has a portfolio 
of nine mines and one project. We 
believe that a portfolio of no more 
than 10 mines is optimal, allowing 
management to properly focus on 
operations and maintain safe and 
profitable production of between 
2.0Moz – 2.5Moz per year for the 
next 10 years. 

Gold Fields’ overriding strategic 
objective is to improve the quality 
of its portfolio by lowering Group 
AIC, thereby increasing our free 
cash-flow (FCF) to create value for 
our stakeholders. To achieve this, 
we employ various elements in the 
portfolio management process, 
including:
• Acquiring or developing lower-cost 
(than Group average), longer-life 
assets

• Extending the life of current assets 
through near-mine brownfields 
exploration

• Focusing on in-country 

opportunities to leverage off our 
existing footprint, infrastructure and 
skills set

• Disposing of higher-cost, shorter-life 

assets 

All assets in our portfolio are subject to 
the Group's annual strategic planning 
process, which assesses how each 
operation can best maximise cash-
flow, life-of-mine and margin. 

The composition and geographic 
distribution of Gold Fields’ portfolio 

of assets fundamentally changed in 
2013. The most significant changes 
were the unbundling of the legacy 
South African gold mines into Sibanye 
Gold in February 2013, as well as 
the acquisition of the Yilgarn South 
Assets (Darlot, Granny Smith and 
Lawlers) from Barrick Gold in Western 
Australia during October of that year. 
Before this, our South African assets 
accounted for 50% of total production. 
Now, our Australian mines comprise 
just under half of our portfolio.

We have been on an investment 
drive since 2017 to improve the 
sustainability of our production 
base. During this time, we invested 
US$347m into the Damang 
Reinvestment project, spent A$350m 
to acquire 50% of the Gruyere project 
and A$329m to build the mine, paid 
US$185m for a 45% interest in the 
Asanko mine in Ghana, and invested 
US$13m to restructure South Deep. 
Furthermore, in 2020, our Board 
gave the go-ahead for construction of 
the US$860m Salares Norte mine in 
Chile after spending US$161m in the 
preceding four years on project and 
exploration costs.

ATTRIBUTABLE GOLD-EQ PRODUCTION

ATTRIBUTABLE GOLD-EQ MINERAL RESERVES

Total:

Total:

3.50 Moz

2.16 Moz

2.24 Moz

76.6 Moz

46.1 Moz

50.3 Moz

2010

2015

2020

2010

2015

2020

(cid:122) Americas
(cid:122) Australia
(cid:122) South Africa
(cid:122) West Africa

2010

9%
22%
50%
19%

2015

13%
44%
9%
34%

2020

9%
46%
10%
38%

(cid:122) Americas
(cid:122) Australia
(cid:122) South Africa
(cid:122) West Africa

2010

5%
5%
79%
11%

2015

3%
8%
74%
15%

2020

13%
14%
61%
12%

19

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

PROFITABLE PRODUCTION AND SUSTAINABLE CASH-FLOW

2020 PERFORMANCE

Achieved revised production and 
cost guidance for the year

Limited the impact of Covid-19 
on production to 3% of original 
guidance

South Deep achieved record cash-
flow of US$34m (2019: US$15m)

Produced 1.0Moz at our Australian 
mines, with Gruyere contributing for 
the full year for the first time

Australian region tripled its net 
cash-inflow to US$498m

Cerro Corona’s gold-equivalent 
production declined by 29%

Damang continues to build-up 
production and lower AIC

  For more details on our 2020 

performance, refer to p68 – p73.

The core focus of Gold Fields’ 
strategy is to grow its FCF margin 
and sustain this in the long term. 
Therefore, when looking at growth 
within Gold Fields, we focus not on 
increasing our levels of production, 
but rather on reducing Group AIC, 
increasing the FCF margin per ounce 
of gold produced and sustainably 
extending the average reserve life 
per operation. The Group targets 
an FCF margin of at least 15% at 
a notional long-term planning gold 
price of US$1,300/oz. This provides a 
degree of downside resilience should 
the price decline below that level in 
the short term. At the same time, it 
means we can improve our margins 
should the gold price exceed that 
level – which has been the case for 
the last two years. 

Our progress towards our target is 
supported by the gradual decline 

of Group AIC to below US$1,100/
oz over the past few years. In Q4 
2012 – the last quarter before the 
Sibanye Gold unbundling – Group 
AIC amounted to US$1,621/oz. All 
the while, our production levels held 
steady at around 2.20Moz.

The improved cost performance 
at stable production levels and 
the higher gold price received, as 
well as the gradual easing of our 
capex programme, ensured that net 
cash-flow from operating activities 
improved steadily over the past 
few years, culminating in inflows of 
US$631m in 2020. This translated 
into an FCF margin of 28% at a gold 
price of US$1,771/oz, meaning that 
we successfully exceeded our 15% 
target for four consecutive years. 
During 2021, our US$508m capex 
programme at Salares Norte will push 
up AIC temporarily.

GROUP AIC AND CASH-FLOW TRENDS FROM 2012 TO 2020

Cash flow (US$m)

1,537

1,312

)
0
8
2
(

)
5
3
2
(

1,087

5
3
2

1,026

1,006

1,088

1,173

1,064

1,079

3
2
1

4
9
2

9
4
2

1
3
6

)
2
(

)
2
2
1
(

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

(cid:132) Net cash-flow (US$m)1
1 Net cash-flow from operating activities after taking account of net capital expenditure and environmental payments

(cid:132) Group AIC (US$/oz)

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

(100)

(200)

(300)

20

AIC (US$/oz)

1,600

1,200

800

400

0

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OVERVIEW OF STRATEGIC PILLARS

CAPITAL ALLOCATION AND SOUND BALANCE SHEET MANAGEMENT

2020 PERFORMANCE
Continued reduction in net debt to 
US$1,069m (2019: US$1,664m)

Excluding lease liabilities, net debt 
totalled US$640m at end-2020

Net debt:EBITDA ratio of 0.56x 
(2019: 1.29) 

Total dividend payment of R4.80/
share (2019: R1.60/share)

Loss on gold, copper, oil and foreign 
exchange hedges of US$239m

Successful US$249m equity raise 
to fund Salares Norte construction

  For more details on our 2020 

performance, refer to p74 – p80.

With the project capital having largely 
been spent by mid-2019, the purpose 
of the hedging programme shifted 
to servicing debt, with management 
paying down almost US$600m 
during 2020 and the net debt:EBITDA 
ratio falling substantially below 1x. 
Gold Fields is generally active in the 
debt markets through a range of 
instruments to further improve the 
liquidity and profile of Group debt.

Our priorities for the free cash-flow 
(FCF) we generate are:

• Strengthening the balance sheet: 
At the height of the growth capital 
cycle at the end of 2018, the 
Group’s net debt:EBITDA (excluding 
lease liabilities) peaked at 1.45x. 
With Gruyere and Damang now at 
or approaching steady state, we 
have used the free cash generated 
in 2020 to reduce net debt further 
and strengthen our balance sheet
• Funding growth projects: Capex 
for the Salares Norte project in 
Chile is planned to total US$860m 
(in 2020 terms), a portion of which 
will be funded from cash-flow. Apart 
from the Salares Norte project, there 
is no major growth capital budgeted 
for the medium term

• Returning dividends to 

shareholders: Gold Fields has a 
long and well-established Dividend 
Policy of paying out between 25% 

– 35% of normalised earnings to 
shareholders. During 2020, Gold 
Fields declared a total dividend of 
R4.80/share, which translates to 
30% of normalised earnings

Gold Fields’ Hedging Policy allows 
for hedging to protect cash-flows, 
firstly, at times of significant capex, 
secondly, to address specific debt 
servicing requirements and, thirdly, 
to safeguard the viability of higher-
cost operations. We do not enter 
into long-term systematic hedges, 
but do determine whether short-term 
hedging is appropriate.

Given the high levels of project capital 
incurred over the past three years, 
the Group has run an active hedging 
programme using short-term hedges 
to protect our cash-flow and balance 
sheet. These gold, copper, oil and 
foreign exchange hedges resulted 
in a net realised loss of US$417m 
in 2020.

DEBT AND DIVIDEND TRENDS FROM 2010 TO 2020

Dividend (R/share)

Net debt:EBITDA ratio

5

4

3

2

1

0

1.50

1.30

1.38

1.45

1.291

0.95

1.03

0
2

.

1

0.78

0.72

0.27

0
3

.

3

5
3

.

2

2
2

.

0

0
4

.

0

5
2

.

0

0
1

.

1

0
9

.

0

0
4

.

0

0.561

0
6

.

1

0
8

.

4

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

(cid:132) Total dividend (R/share)
1 Adopted the new IFRS 16 Lease accounting standard

(cid:132) Net debt:EBITDA ratio

2.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

21

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

VALUE CREATION FOR STAKEHOLDERS

2020 PERFORMANCE
Total value created for our stakeholders 
amounted to US$2.85bn  
(2019: US$2.58bn)

Provided over US$3.3m in support 
of governments’ and communities’ 
Covid-19 programmes

Of our total value created, US$676m 
remained with our host communities 

Achieved a strong share price 
performance, and paid R4.80/share  
in dividends

Payments to governments amounted 
to US$381m (2019: US$254m) in the 
form of taxes and royalties

Payments to business suppliers totalled 
US$1,786m (2019: US$1,744m)

Paid a total of US$412m in wages and 
benefits to our employees  
(2019: US$395m)

Published our first Report to 
Stakeholders

  For more details on our 2020 

performance, refer to p81 – p95.

community value-creation programme 
the following year, total community 
value distribution amounted to a mere 
US$16m, as we did not actively promote 
or measure host community employment 
and procurement. Our cumulative host 
community value creation from 2016 – 
2020 was US$3.54bn. This is a shift in 
approach from community contribution 
to delivering enduring value to our 
stakeholders.

The mining industry significantly impacts 
the countries and communities in 
which it operates. For Gold Fields, 
the stakeholders most material to 
our business are those who have a 
substantial influence on our ability to 
create value or secure our regulatory 
licenses, and those in our host 
communities who can influence our 
social licence to operate. We build 
relationships that are open, transparent 
and constructive, and actively engage 
with our key stakeholders on the issues 
they care about the most at the local 
level. 

It is important that our local stakeholders 
receive material, real benefits from 
the mining activities taking place in 
their midst. Since 2013, our total 
value creation has ranked between 
US$2.4bn – US$3bn a year in the form 
of payments to suppliers, salaries and 
wages to employees, taxes and royalties 
to governments, dividend and interest 
payments to capital providers, as well 
as investments in socio-economic 
development (SED) in our host 
communities.

In addition, Gold Fields continues to 
focus on maximising in-country economic 

impact. Of our procurement spend, 
96% is to in-country suppliers, while, on 
average, 86% of our employees are in-
country nationals.

In recent years, our host communities 
have emerged as the most critical 
stakeholder for our mines, and their 
success is essential for our operational 
sustainability. By creating jobs among 
our workforce for host community 
members, procuring goods and services 
from host community enterprises and 
investing in community projects, we 
deliver enduring value, while contributing 
to our communities’ social and 
economic growth and development. Our 
performance during 2020 illustrates this: 
• Along with our contractors, we 

employed 8,752 people, or 53% of 
our workforce, from host communities

• Host community procurement 

amounted to US$536m, or 29% 
of total spend 

• Our investment in SED projects in our 
host communities totalled US$17m, 
and also created 672 non-mining jobs

Our initiatives ensured that US$676m, or 
28% of our total value creation, remained 
with our host communities in 2020. 
In 2015, before we commenced our 

IN-COUNTRY EMPLOYEE AND HOST
COMMUNITY WORKFORCE

IN-COUNTRY AND HOST COMMUNITY
PROCUREMENT SPEND

HOST COMMUNITY VALUE CREATION
RELATIVE TO SED SPEND

% of total

100

80

60

40

20

0

5
9

8
4

5
9

0
4

6
9

6
5

5
9

5
5

6
8

3
5

% of total

100

80

60

40

20

0

2
9

8
3

4
9

0
4

3
9

7
2

6
9

4
3

6
9

9
2

 US$m

900

600

300

0

4
0
6

6
1

1
9
7

7
1

6
8
6

5
2

2
8
7

2
2

6
7
6

7
1

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

(cid:132) Proportion of national employees (%)
(cid:132) Proportion of host community employees 

and contractors (%)

(cid:132) In-country procurement spend (%)
(cid:132) Host community procurement spend (%)

(cid:132) Host community value creation (US$m)
(cid:132) SED spend (US$m)

22

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OVERVIEW OF STRATEGIC PILLARS

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

2020 PERFORMANCE

Experienced no serious (Level 3 – 5) 
environmental incidents for the 
second consecutive year

Ranked within the top five in the 
DJSI for the 10th straight year

Spent US$257m on energy usage 
(2019: US$300m)

Increased energy consumption by 
5% to 13,129TJ (2019: 12,498TJ)

Achieved 80% of the 2017 to 
2020 emissions reduction target of 
800kt CO2e
Launched renewable energy 
microgrids at Agnew and Granny 
Smith

Started implementation of the new 
GISTM to be completed by 2025

Recycled/reused 71% of our total 
water consumption, which is above 
ICMM targets

93% of progressive rehabilitation 
plans implemented

  For more details on our 2020 
performance, refer to p96 – p104. 

energies and increasing the reuse 
and recycling of water. We integrate 
assessment of climate-related risks 
and opportunities in project studies, 
as well as operational and strategic 
planning.

source of friction and conflict between 
mines and their host communities. 

A reliable and cost-efficient supply 
of energy is equally critical to our 
operations. Apart from labour, energy 
is the biggest operational cost at our 
mines. It is therefore critical that we 
use energy efficiently, as it is also a 
significant contributor to our carbon 
footprint in the form of Scope 1 and 
2 emissions. The negative physical 
impacts of climate change are real 
and immediate, due to:
• The long-term risks posed to 

our operations and surrounding 
communities because of extreme 
weather events, such as severe 
rainfalls and prolonged droughts

• Increasing efforts to regulate 

carbon emissions in most of our 
jurisdictions

• Taxes on non-renewable energy 
consumption increasingly being 
imposed by governments

As such, Gold Fields’ climate change 
programme specifically focuses on 
energy management programmes 
to reduce emissions and energy 
costs, including the use of renewable 

ENVIRONMENTAL INCIDENTS

Number of incidents

Gold Fields is committed to 
responsible environmental 
stewardship. The conservative use 
of water and energy resources by 
our mines is not only critical for 
them to remain effective, but also 
to limit the impact of our usage 
on the surrounding communities 
and environment. To facilitate this, 
Gold Fields strictly adheres to all 
local legislation and regulations, 
and is guided by a number of 
leading external standards. We 
have developed several Group 
environment-related policies – relating 
to environmental stewardship, climate 
change, materials and supply chain 
stewardship, water stewardship and 
tailings management – as well as a 
range of related guidelines.  

Water is a key focus area of our 
environmental strategy. Not only is 
it becoming an increasingly scarce 
and expensive resource globally, 
but we also draw water from the 
same catchment areas as our 
local communities. In countries like 
Peru and Chile, for example, water 
management has become a key 

CO2 INTENSITY

tCO2e/oz

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

9
3

.

1

0
1
0
2

3
4

.

1

1
1
0
2

8
6

.

1

2
1
0
2

1
6

.

0

3
1
0
2

5
5

.

0

4
1
0
2

9
5

.

0

5
1
0
2

9
6

.

0

6
1
0
2

6
6

.

0

7
1
0
2

6
6

.

0

8
1
0
2

6
6

.

0

9
1
0
2

2
6

.

0

0
2
0
2

(cid:132) CO2 intensity1
1 Scope 1 and 2 emissions

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

7 5 7 3 4 5 3 2 2 0 0

0
1
0
2

1
1
0
2

2
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

5
1
0
2

6
1
0
2

7
1
0
2

8
1
0
2

9
1
0
2

0
2
0
2

(cid:132) Level 3 – 5 incidents

23

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

GROUP SCORECARDS

WE ARE COMMITTED TO ACHIEVING OUR VISION OF BEING THE GLOBAL LEADER IN SUSTAINABLE GOLD MINING. OUR STRATEGY IS 
DESIGNED TO ENABLE THE DELIVERY OF THIS VISION THROUGH AN INTEGRATED APPROACH. OUR STRATEGY, WHICH COMPRISES 
FOUR PILLARS – ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY, INTERNAL BUSINESS PROCESSES, STAKEHOLDERS AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE – 
IS FURTHER INFORMED BY OUR DEDICATION TO OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE, DEBT REDUCTION AND INTEGRATED THINKING. 
THE INFOGRAPHIC BELOW SHOWS HOW WE PERFORMED AGAINST OBJECTIVES SET IN THE GROUP 2020 SCORECARD.

PERFORMANCE AGAINST 2020 GROUP SCORECARD 

OBJECTIVES:

11

INCREASE TOTAL SHAREHOLDER RETURN (TSR):

12

113

114

FINANCIAL

CAPITAL DISCIPLINE PROCESS 
Reduce net debt by  
US$300m – US$400m @ US$1,500/oz1
Performance: 
Net debt reduced by US$595m @ US$1,768/oz

STAKEHOLDER

REPUTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS:
•  60% of active investors engaged twice a year 
•  80% achievement of planned government engagement interactions

Performance: 
– >70% of active investors engaged (508 engagements), despite Covid-19 
–  Government actions plans presented to the Board for each region. Engagements limited 

due to Covid-19

STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
•  Improve the resolution between short-term and long-term planning

Performance: 
>80% compliance to strategic project schedules and actions; business plan achievement 
is within 5% of long-term plan for AIC and gold-equivalent production 

INTERNAL  
BUSINESS  
PROCESSES

ORGANISATIONAL
CAPACITY

EFFICIENCIES AND SECURITY OF UTILITIES 
(ENERGY AND WATER)
•  5% TJ reductions through energy-saving initiatives
•  Achieve 80% of 800,000t CO2e reduction for 2017 – 

2020 

•  Commence construction of South Deep solar plant 
•  3% reduction in freshwater withdrawal 
•  Increase water recycling/reuse to 66% of total

Performance: 
–  8% TJ reduction savings
– 639kt CO2e reduction
–  Regulatory approval for solar plant received in 

February 2021

– 5% reduction in freshwater withdrawal
– Water recycling/reuse of 71% of total use

QUALITY

IMPROVE 
PORTFOLIO 
MANAGEMENT
•  Develop growth plans 
for the Australia, West 
Africa and Americas 
regions

Performance: 
Growth plans for all 
regions developed

24

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY

• Above median performance against peer group 

Performance: 
Share price increased 46% during 2020. Gold Fields placed between median and top quartile

COST GUIDANCE (AIC) 
US$1,035/oz – US$1,055/oz2 
Cost guidance for 2020

Performance: 
Guidance revised to US$$1,070/oz – US$1,090/oz due to 
Covid-19 impact. Performance for 2020: US$1,079/oz

CAPITAL RETURNS 
15% return at US$1,300/oz  
and A$1,850/oz gold price per project/investment 

Performance: 
Return on capital achieved at three completed projects: 
St Ives Invincible South (23%); St Ives Hamlet North (42%); 
Damang (77%)

ANALYSTS AND INVESTORS, EMPLOYEES, GOVERNMENT, COMMUNITIES
•  Substantial implementation of community action plans 
• Increase in the number of influenced hired employees3

Performance: 
– Each region achieved at least 83% implementation of the community action plans
– 29% of total hires were influenced hires

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CAPITAL DISCIPLINE 
PROCESS
•  Substantial compliance of capital 

projects with time, cost and 
scope approvals

Performance: 
90% of actions achieved for capital 
projects’ engineering scope, on 
time and within budget

SAFETY, OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH 
AND WELLBEING
•  Substantial achievement of 

environmental, health and safety 
scorecard

Performance: 
80% of actions under the Group’s 
Environmental Health and Safety 
scorecard completed despite Covid-19 
restrictions

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
•  Improve response to findings in employee surveys
•  Managers living the Gold Fields values as measured 

by 360˚ assessment 

•  Increased diversity and inclusion among employees 

Performance: 
– 80% of survey programmes implemented
– 3/5 rating for managers living the values
– 5% increase in diversity inclusion index

OF OUR  PORTFOLIO

SUSTAIN 
IMPROVEMENTS AT 
SOUTH DEEP
•  Deliver the 2020 

guidance of 8,000kg at 
R625,000/kg

Performance: 
Revised guidance 
(due to Covid-19 shutdown) 
achieved – 7,056kg at 
R664,000/kg

DELIVERY OF  
SALARES NORTE
•  Complete detailed 
engineering design

•  Commence with 

construction in Q4 2020

Performance: 
–  US$250m capital raise 

completed

–  Construction commenced 

in Q4 2020

–  97% engineering design 

completed

INNOVATION AND 
TECHNOLOGY
•  Significant progress in rolling 

out digital infrastructure

Performance: 
93% of planned I&T programmes 
completed

PEOPLE CAPACITY
•  75% cover for high-impact and 

mission-critical roles

Performance: 
80% cover for roles achieved

GOVERNANCE AND COMPLIANCE
•  No material deviations from compliance guidelines 
•  All audit findings resolved within agreed timeframes 

Performance: 
No material deviations from guidelines and all audit findings resolved

1 Illustrative price   2 Including spending on Salares Norte project   3 This is measured by the number of referrals via LinkedIn  

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25

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

GROUP SCORECARDS CONTINUED

THE INFOGRAPHIC BELOW SHOWS THE KEY OBJECTIVES UNDER OUR GROUP 2021 SCORECARD

OBJECTIVES:

1
1

OUR 2021 GROUP SCORECARD 

FINANCE

IMPROVE TSR
Improve total shareholder return (TSR) through increased  
share price and dividend payouts

22

33

STAKEHOLDERS

IMPROVE REPUTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS

INTERNAL 
BUSINESS  
PROCESSES

IMPROVE STRATEGIC 
PLANNING PROCESS
Improve the strategic planning 
process 

IMPROVE CAPITAL  
DISCIPLINE PROCESS
Improve our process as it relates to allocating 
and managing capital

ORGANISATIONAL  
CAPACITY

BUILDING RESILIENCE 
TO CLIMATE CHANGE – 
WATER
Improve the security and 
efficiency of water use

INCREASE RESILIENCE 
TO CLIMATE CHANGE – 
ENERGY
Strengthen our security of 
supply to avoid operational 
interruptions, improve 
energy efficiencies, optimise 
energy costs and reduce our 
greenhouse gas emissions

IMPROVE ASANKO INVESTMENT
A recommendation backed by an execution 
plan is to be made on the future strategy 
with regards to our investment in the JV 
during 2021

IMPROVE THE QUALITY  
OF AMERICAS PORTFOLIO
Improve the quality of the Chilean portfolio
Advance Salares Norte Project

SOUTH DEEP PEOPLE AND 
PROCESSES IMPROVEMENT 
Relentless focus on developing people and 
improved processes, to deliver their and the 
business’ full potential

44

26

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY

REDUCE DEBT
Reduce debt to improve TSR, 
reduce risk and create financial 
flexibility

IMPROVE FREE CASH-FLOW
Increase free cash-flow per ounce 
at a set gold price

IMPROVE CAPITAL 
RETURNS
Improve rate of return on 
capital invested

Improve investor and analyst confidence, community and government reputation in Gold Fields

IMPROVE SAFETY, HEALTH AND 
ENVIRONMENT AND WELLBEING 
•  Eliminate fatalities, serious injuries and 

environmental incidents in our business and 
remove people from risk

•   Improve the health and wellbeing of our 

workforce

IMPROVE   
ORGANISATIONAL  
CULTURE
Improve engagement 
levels of employees

IMPROVE TAILINGS 
FACILITY MANAGEMENT 
Further reduce dam safety 
risks and commence with 
implementation of the Global 
Industry Standard on Tailings 
Management (GISTM)

IMPROVE INNOVATION  
AND TECHNOLOGY
Improve operational health and 
safety, business processes, 
efficiencies of operations 
and productivity through the 
implementation of innovation and 
technology initiatives, based on 
the Gold Fields modernisation (I&T) 
roadmap

IMPROVE PEOPLE  
CAPACITY 
Deliver the people scorecard as 
per plan 

IMPROVE FEMALE 
REPRESENTATION 
Increase the number of women 
in the workplace

IMPROVE GOVERNANCE  
AND COMPLIANCE 
Improve adherence to all required 
legislation, regulations, standards, 
policies agreements and 
procedures

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27

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

Agnew, Australia

28

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

HOW WE OPERATE

HOW WE 
OPERATE

3.1

3.2

3.3
3.4

3.5
3.6

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS  
P30 – 32
HOW WE GOVERN OUR 
BUSINESS P33 – 35
OUR BUSINESS MODEL P36 – 37
STAKEHOLDERS AND VALUE 
CREATION P38 – 40
MATERIAL MATTERS P41 
RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES 
P42 – 47

29

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

As the Company's highest governing body, the Board of Directors assumes ultimate responsibility for Gold Fields’ adherence 
to sound corporate governance standards. The Board ensures that all business decisions are made with reasonable care, 
skill and diligence to maximise value for key stakeholders. Our Board comprises a diverse group of directors with the relevant 
knowledge, expertise, technical experience and business acumen to govern ethically and with honesty, transparency, 
responsibility, authenticity and impartiality. Below, we list our Directors as at 31 December 2020.

 CHERYL CAROLUS (62)

Chairperson
BA Law; Bachelor of Education, University of the Western Cape; 
Honorary Doctorate in Law, University of Cape Town (UCT)
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: Director, 2009 
Chairperson, 2013

 RICHARD MENELL (65)

Deputy Chairperson
BA (Hons), MA (Natural Sciences Geology), Cambridge; MSc 
(Mineral Exploration and Management), Stanford University
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: Director, 2008, Deputy Chairperson, 
2015, Lead independent director, 2017
Resigned with effect from 10 March 2021

 NICK HOLLAND (62)
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
BCom; BAcc, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits); CA(SA)
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: Executive director, 1998, CEO, 2008 
Retired with effect from 31 March 2021

 PAUL SCHMIDT (53)
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
BCom, Wits; BCompt (Hons),  
University of South Africa (UNISA); CA(SA) 
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: Executive director, 2009,  
CFO, 2009

 ALHASSAN ANDANI (59)
Independent non-executive director
BSc (Agriculture), University of Ghana; MA (Banking and Finance), 
Finafrica Institute in Italy
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: 2016

 PETER BACCHUS (52) 
Independent non-executive director
MA (Economics) Cambridge University
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: 2016

VALUE-ADDING EXPERIENCE

Governance and compliance, social 
development, training and development, 
people management

Executive management, mining, geology

Finance, mining, management

Finance, mining, management

Mining management, engineering

Investment banking, financing, mergers 
and acquisitions

BOARD INDEPENDENCE
(1 April 2021)

BOARD TENURE
(1 April 2021)

BOARD AGE
(1 April 2021)

REGIONAL EXPERIENCE (number of directors)

Europe

Australia

South Africa

West Africa

1

2

6

1

0

2

4

6

8

NATIONALITIES (1 April 2021)

(cid:122) Independent non-executive   80%
20%
(cid:122) Executive directors 

(cid:122) 0 – 2 years 
(cid:122) 3 – 6 years 
(cid:122) >9 years 

20%
60%
20%

(cid:122) <50 years 
(cid:122) 50 – 59 years 
(cid:122) >60 years 

10%
40%
50%

South Africa

Ghana

Australia

7

1

2

0

2

4

6

8

30

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

HOW WE OPERATE

While we operate in contexts that are often driven by changing social and political trends, we believe our effective and ethical 
governance structures enable us to protect our reputation and social licence to operate while creating sustainable value for our 
stakeholders. We adhere to all relevant legislation and industry standards and are committed to upholding the principles of the 
King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa 2016 (King IV) throughout our operations. We have also voluntarily 
aligned our business with several international standards and guidelines as detailed on p3 of our Annual Financial Report (AFR). 
Our King IV application register is detailed in our full Corporate Governance Report (p2 – 17 of our AFR). Our Board met four 
times during the year. Our 2020 Board and Board committee attendance was 99% (2019: 97%).

 TERENCE GOODLACE (61) 
Independent non-executive director
MBA (Business Administration), University of Wales; BCom, UNISA; 
NHDip and NDip (Metalliferous Mining), Witwatersrand Technikon; 
MDP, UCT 
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: 2016

 CARMEN LETTON (55)
Independent non-executive director
PhD (Mineral Economics), University of Queensland; Bachelor 
Mining, Engineering, WASM
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: 2017

 PHUTHI MAHANYELE-DABENGWA (50)

Independent NED
BA Economics, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey; MBA, 
De Montford University, Leicester
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: 2018
Resigned with effect from 28 February 2021

 STEVEN REID (65)

Independent non-executive director
BSc (Mineral Engineering), South Australian Institute of Technology; 
MBA, Trium Global Executive; ICD.D, Institute of Corporate Directors
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: 2016

VALUE-ADDING EXPERIENCE

Mining, capital projects, commercial 
and operational management, risk 
management, mineral resource 
management

Mining engineering, corporate 
governance, risk management, 
corporate strategy

Financial, infrastructure development, 
commercial

Mining engineering, risk management, 
compensation management

 YUNUS SULEMAN (63)
Independent non-executive director
BCom, UKZN; BCompt (Hons), UNISA; CA(SA); CD(SA)
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: 2016

Auditing, financial accounting, 
governance

NEW APPOINTMENTS SINCE 2020 YEAR-END

 PHILISIWE SIBIYA (44)
Independent non-executive director
BCom (Hons), University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN); CA(SA)
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: 1 March 2021

Executive management, finance, 
telecommunications

 CHRIS GRIFFITH (55)

CEO (with effect from 1 April 2021)
BEng (Mining), University of Pretoria
APPOINTED TO THE BOARD: 1 April 2021

Mining, executive management, 
engineering

BOARD DIVERSITY
(1 April 2021)

EXPERIENCE (number of directors)

Development (social, infrastructure and training) 

Management (including risk management) 

Auditing and financial accounting 

Finance, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, commercial and capital projects 

Mining and geology 

Governance, compliance and corporate strategy 

   Refer to our Corporate Governance Report in our AFR for our full meeting  
attendance and the detailed curricula vitae (CVs) of our directors. 

(cid:122) White male 
(cid:122) Black male 
(cid:122) White female 
(cid:122) Black female 

50%
20%
10%
20%

2 

7 

3 

6 

6 

3 

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

31

 
 
 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR BOARD COMMITTEES 

as at 31 December 2020

 NOMINATING AND GOVERNANCE 

COMMITTEE
Met seven times in 2020
CHAIRPERSON: Cheryl Carolus
MEMBERS: Steven Reid, Rick Menell, 
Yunus Suleman 

AUTHORITY AND PURPOSE

Considers the composition and effectiveness of the Board and its 
committees, as well as management as a whole. It is responsible for the 
succession of directors and key executives, and is involved in recruiting 
appropriately skilled directors. The Committee also ensures a robust 
approach to the Company’s corporate governance. 

 REMUNERATION COMMITTEE

Met five times in 2020
CHAIRPERSON: Steven Reid
MEMBERS: Cheryl Carolus, Alhassan Andani, 
Rick Menell, Peter Bacchus 

Assists the Board to ensure that the Group’s remuneration practices are 
fair, responsible and equitable, and that it supports growth in stakeholder 
value. In particular, the Committee ensures that executive remuneration 
is directly linked to Gold Fields’ performance, thereby protecting our key 
stakeholders' interests by incentivising management to deliver value.

 SOCIAL, ETHICS AND 

TRANSFORMATION (SET) COMMITTEE
Met four times in 2020
CHAIRPERSON: Carmen Letton
MEMBERS: Cheryl Carolus, Rick Menell, 
Alhassan Andani, Nick Holland, Phuthi

 CAPITAL PROJECTS, CONTROL AND 

REVIEW COMMITTEE
Met four times in 2020
CHAIRPERSON: Rick Menell
MEMBERS: Peter Bacchus, Terence Goodlace, 
Yunus Suleman, Steven Reid, Cheryl Carolus, 
Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, Carmen Letton 

 RISK COMMITTEE
Met seven times in 2020
CHAIRPERSON: Peter Bacchus
MEMBERS: Terence Goodlace, Carmen Letton, 
Yunus Suleman

 SAFETY, HEALTH AND SUSTAINABLE 

DEVELOPMENT (SHSD) COMMITTEE
Met five times in 2020
CHAIRPERSON: Terence Goodlace
MEMBERS: Cheryl Carolus, Rick Menell, 
Steven Reid, Carmen Letton, Phuthi Mahanyele-
Dabengwa 

 AUDIT COMMITTEE

Met five times in 2020
CHAIRPERSON: Yunus Suleman
MEMBERS: Rick Menell, Alhassan Andani, 
Peter Bacchus 

 AD-HOC INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

Met once in 2020
CHAIRPERSON: Peter Bacchus
MEMBERS: Alhassan Andani, Yunus Suleman, 
Steven Reid, Cheryl Carolus, Rick Menell

 GROUP EXCO

CHAIRPERSON: Nick Holland

CEO: Chris Griffith 
(with effect from 1 April 2021) 

Assists the Board to discharge its oversight responsibilities relating 
to safety, security, health, environmental, social, ethics, human rights, 
sustainable development and stakeholder relationships. Furthermore, it 
holds the Company responsible for operating an ethical and sustainable 
business in line with the principles of good corporate citizenship.

Considers, reviews and approves new capital projects exceeding 
US$200m and satisfies the Board that the Group has used correct, 
efficient methodologies in evaluating and implementing such projects. 
The Committee monitors progress throughout the project lifecycle and 
periodically reports any findings to management and the Board.

Assists the Board to establish Gold Fields’ risks and opportunities. It also 
ensures that management identifies and implements appropriate risk 
management controls to ensure long-term value creation for stakeholders 
in a risk environment that continues to evolve.

Assists the Board to oversee the effectiveness of the Group’s SHSD 
programmes and strategic plan. It also monitors the Company’s 
performance in this regard and ensures that it complies with relevant 
laws, regulations and external standards to ensure optimal safety, health 
and environmental practices, contributing to the Group’s social licence 
to operate.

Oversees the integrity and transparency of Gold Fields’ corporate 
reporting and accounting practices, and considers risks that may affect 
external reports’ integrity. 

Considers and recommends, where appropriate, strategic, organisational 
and structuring options for the Group to the Board, including investment 
and divestment opportunities, to maximise shareholder returns 
sustainably.

Our Group Exco is responsible for implementing the Group’s strategy 
and executing the Board’s mandate and directives. Exco meets at least 
every month to review Gold Fields’ performance against set strategic 
objectives, and develops strategies and policy proposals for the Board’s 
consideration. It also assists the Board in the execution of the Company’s 
disclosure obligations.

   Exco has 12 members in total, comprising the Company’s principal officers and executive directors. More information can be found on our website at 
www.goldfields.com/our-leadership.php

32

Gold Fields Integrated 
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2020

HOW WE OPERATE

HOW WE GOVERN OUR BUSINESS

KEY DELIBERATIONS AND DECISIONS TAKEN BY THE BOARD 
IN 2020

STRATEGIC GOALS SUPPORTED 
(cid:79)  75% cover for high-impact and critical roles
(cid:79)  Safely deliver strategic projects
(cid:79)  Sustain improvements at South Deep
(cid:79) 
(cid:79) 
(cid:79) 

Improve the quality of our portfolio and deliver Salares Norte
Improve efficiencies and security of energy and water
Improve people capacity to deliver operation performance and 
Group strategy

(cid:79)  Ensure transparent governance and compliance with GISTM

  BOARD DELIBERATIONS 
(cid:79)  Reviewed CEO successions and appointed Chris Griffith as 
successor to Nick Holland. In deliberating this decision, the 
Board weighed up the importance of skills, expertise and 
relevant experience

(cid:79)  Reviewed Gold Fields’ operational plans and strategies 
(cid:79)  Monitored South Deep’s ongoing restructuring
(cid:79)  Approved US$860m for Salares Norte construction and monitored 

(cid:79) 

progress
Implementation of Global Industry Standard on Tailings 
Management (GISTM)

(cid:79)  Monitored the commissioning of renewables projects at two 

Australian mines and approved renewables plans for four other 
operations

STRATEGIC GOALS SUPPORTED 
(cid:79)  Manage balance sheet and maximise returns 
(cid:79)  Continue to reduce the Group’s net debt
(cid:79) 
Improve the return on invested capital

  BOARD DELIBERATIONS 

(cid:79)  Approved additional oil price, copper, gold and foreign exchange 

hedges 

(cid:79)  Approved debt refinancing and extension of debt maturity
(cid:79)  Approved sale of non-strategic shareholdings

ORGANISATIONAL 
CAPACITY

FINANCIAL

Gold Fields 
Board

STAKEHOLDER

  BOARD DELIBERATIONS 

(cid:79)  Engaged on tailings management and 
the implementation of the GISTM
(cid:79)  Conducted full review of heritage 

management in Australia, and engaged 
investors on this issue

(cid:79)  Monitored ASM strategy implementation and incidents,  

as well as resettlement grievances in Ghana

(cid:79)  Strengthened engagement on and improved disclosure of 

environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues
(cid:79)  Deliberated on increases in host community employment 

and procurement targets, including focus on the creation of 
non-mining jobs

(cid:79)  Focused on social and economic developments in our host 

communities

(cid:79)  Monitored support and approved donations to communities and 

governments for Covid-19-related programmes

STRATEGIC GOALS SUPPORTED 

(cid:79) 

Increase the quality and quantity of engagement with key 
stakeholders

(cid:79)  Drive Shared Value creation with impacted communities
(cid:79) 
Improve the Group’s reputation with key stakeholders
(cid:79)  Drive diversity and inclusion in the workforce

BOARD DELIBERATIONS 

INTERNAL 
BUSINESS 
PROCESSES

(cid:79)   Oversaw the development and monitored 
implementation of Covid-19-related 
policies, protocols and programmes, 
prioritising the safety and health of 
employees 
(cid:79)  Regular feedback to Risk Committee on Covid-19-related risks, 

strategies and mitigating actions

(cid:79)  Approved Group Principles of Wellbeing
(cid:79)  Reviewed the causes of major internal and external safety and 

environmental incidents

(cid:79)  Reviewed and approved diversity and inclusion dashboard
(cid:79)  Examined the causes of the fatal incident at South Deep and 

developed learnings

(cid:79)  Approved the following environmental policy statements: Group 
Tailings Management Policy Statement, Climate Change Policy 
Statement, Sustainable Development Policy Statement, 
Environmental Policy Statement (February 2021)

STRATEGIC GOALS SUPPORTED 

(cid:79)  Protect the safety, health and wellbeing of employees
(cid:79) 
Increase diversity and inclusion among employees

33

Gold Fields Integrated 
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2020

HOW WE GOVERN OUR BUSINESS CONTINUED

HOW BOARD GOVERNANCE ADDS VALUE

SETTING FAIR REMUNERATION

•  Ensures executive remuneration is fair, equitable and 

responsible, and informed by Exco’s achievement of Gold 
Fields’ strategic objectives

•  Determines remuneration principles in line with King IV
•  Ensures remuneration practices align with shareholder 
interests and support the achievement of a sustainable 
business by:
 − Helping to attract, motivate, retain and reward employees
 − Driving achievement of strategic objectives through 

SUPPORTING STRATEGY THAT DELIVERS 
VALUE AND SUSTAINABILITY

•  Approves strategic goals and direction following Exco’s 
presentation of strategy, business plans and risk register 
for input

•  Ensures strategy drives a sustainable business agenda and 

considers the interests of stakeholders by balancing how risks 
and opportunities might impact the achievement of objectives

•  Agrees upon performance targets
•  Monitors implementation of strategy through quarterly Board 

meetings

incentives and rewards

•  Quarterly CEO reports on performance against operational 

•  Approves a remuneration policy that includes disclosures on 
implementation to ensure transparent reporting of CEO and 
CFO remuneration

targets

•  Performs on-site visits to operations and projects and, on 

occasion, interacting with individual executives on strategic 
and operational performance

DRIVING INCLUSIVE STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT

•  Approves Stakeholder Relationship and Engagement 

Policy to ensure that stakeholder engagement allows for 
collaborative and informed decision-making

•  Oversees transparent reporting so stakeholder groups can 
make informed assessments of Gold Fields’ ability to deliver 
sustainable value

•  Drives ongoing evolution of inclusive stakeholder 

engagement and relationship building to balance the 
interests, needs and expectations of stakeholders with the 
best interests of the Company

BUILDING AN ETHICAL CULTURE

•  Sets the tone for a culture of ethics that underpins 

commitment to compliance, and voluntarily adopted rules, 
codes and standards, where practical

•  Upholds an ethos of good governance and sustainability
•  Ensures business decisions are carried out with due care, 

skill and diligence to protect reputation and maintain licence 
to operate

•  Promotes a culture of ethics and responsible corporate 

citizenship

•  Carries out its fiduciary duties

CREATING A SAFE AND HEALTHY 
WORKING ENVIRONMENT

ENSURING REGULATORY COMPLIANCE 
AND SOUND GOVERNANCE

•  Upholds the primary value of “If we cannot mine safely, we 
will not mine”, thereby supporting the practice of stopping 
mining in areas or situations that are deemed unsafe

•  Supports minimising potential negative impacts on 

employees and contractors, maintaining operational 
continuity and protecting reputation

•  Together with management, drives a stringent safety and 

health culture 

•  Oversees adherence to safety, health and environmental 
legislations, standards and compliance requirements, 
and approves adoption of various voluntary leading safety 
principles

•  Ensures compliance with all relevant laws, regulations and 

adopted rules, codes and standards, and the highest levels 
of corporate governance

•  Supports Exco decisions to drive governance in line with 

leading practices

•  Reviews corporate governance systems and frameworks 
to align these with increasingly stringent and far-reaching 
obligations imposed by laws, regulations, rules, codes 
and standards

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AND IMPACT ON, AND BENEFITS TO, COMMUNITIES

•  Ensures alignment with good corporate citizenship, assessment and speedy response to any negative impacts operations may have 

on communities and the environment

•  Through the SET Committee, focuses on, among others, impact on, and benefits to, communities, while the SHSD Committee deals 

with, inter alia, issues of environmental stewardship

34

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

HOW WE OPERATE

ENSURING WE DO BUSINESS ETHICALLY 
THE STRUCTURES AND MECHANISMS USED TO DRIVE ETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICE

The foundation of our business is based on strong ethics. Our Board and its committees are responsible for setting 
the ethical tone which, in turn, cultivates a culture of integrity and transparent reporting to our stakeholders. From this 
foundation, we build trust with our stakeholders, allowing us to strengthen our reputation and create sustainable value. 
We have numerous mechanisms in place to help to ensure we conduct our business ethically, adhere to compliance 
requirements and entrench good governance within the business.

Legal and compliance

1

2

Audit and risk

We assess any legal, non-compliance and reputational 
risks facing the Company and mitigate these by enacting 
an effective governance and compliance framework, 
which follows a systematic and integrated approach, and 
pivots on robust mitigating control structures.
During 2020, we:
•  Enhanced the annual profiling and assessment of applicable 

laws, regulations, rules, codes and standards with the 
assessment and integration of Covid-19 and related changes 
and obligations

•  Amending the internal assurance process to more effectively 

align inherent and residual risk, controls and imposed 
obligations

•  Enhanced the Group Governance and Compliance portal to 
include a fit-for-purpose and focused centre of excellence for 
data protection and privacy

•  Risk-screened 100% of all new and existing suppliers and 

contractors for a range of pre-defined risk categories
•  Analysed engagements with and commitments made to 

external stakeholders, as well as declarations filed in terms 
of the Group’s Code of Conduct

•  Extended operational audits by our Internal Audit function to 
assess compliance-related controls as part of the control’s 
application on the operational business process

The Risk Committee examines the key risks and 
opportunities facing the business and reports these to 
the Board twice a year. The Board aims for effective 
controls and corrective measures to manage and 
mitigate these risks. Furthermore, the Audit Committee 
seeks to ensure the integrity, accuracy, and adequacy 
of Gold Fields’ accounting records.

Internal Audit ensures that the necessary internal controls are in 
place to mitigate any potential risks in all regions. Our operations 
receive an audit ranking and, where necessary, corrective measures 
are put in place. 

The External Audit function assures the integrity, accuracy and 
adequacy of accounting records and corporate reporting. 
PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. was appointed as our auditors 
from 2019.

For more information on our Risk and Audit Committees, refer to 
p8 – 10 of the AFR.

Commitment to leading practice

3

4

Code of Conduct

We support the development of an ethical and 
responsible gold mining industry. Gold Fields is aligned 
to leading practices, which underpin our commitment 
to responsible corporate citizenship. We are 
committed to and guided by:

•  The legislation and regulations of the countries in which we 

operate 

•  The requirements of the JSE and NYSE
•  The United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and 

Human Rights 

•  The ICMM 10 Principles on Sustainable Development and 

eight position papers

•  The 10 Principles of the UN Global Compact 
•  King IV
•  UN Convention Against Corruption 
•  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 

Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery 

•  Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative
•  World Gold Council – Conflict Free Gold Standard
•  Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights
•  Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

Our Code of Conduct pivots on the Gold Fields’ values, 
and informs the way we conduct ourselves – from our 
operations to our Board. It also extends to our supply 
chain business partners. Updated in 2017, our Code of 
Conduct was distributed to all existing employees, while 
new employees receive it during their onboarding 
processes. As at end-2020, 94% of our people had 
undergone training on the Code of Conduct. We also 
have an anonymous tip-offs hotline in operation, which 
is always available to employees and business partners 
in all regions. Our principle of speaking-up was further 
enhanced with the implementation of a Whistleblower 
Policy during 2020.

Key principles of our Code of Conduct: 
•  Ethical leadership within the organisation, along with ethical 

management

•  Protection of employees and third-party whistleblowers, 
promoting an environment for reporting of transgressions

•  Safeguarding the business against potential reputational harm 

and litigation

•  Transparent and ethical dealings and interactions with all 

stakeholders, and declaring all gifts and entertainment, as well 
as any conflicts of interest

•  Protection of Company information
•  Accurate and transparent reporting
•  Safeguarding against insider trading

35

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR BUSINESS MODEL

    INPUTS

Human capital (p56)

Our employees and contractors provide the 
manpower, skills and expertise that drive our 
strategy.
•  5,641 employees 
•  12,771 contractors 
•  Ethical, accountable and transparent 

leadership

Natural capital (p98)

Water security and reliable energy supply are 
critical to our mining and processing activities, 
while access to land enables us to extract gold 
and copper resources.
•  13,128 TJ of energy consumption
•  21.7 GL water withdrawn

Social and relationship capital (p82)

The quality and strength of our relationships with 
stakeholders, including governments, as well as 
partnerships with host communities, support our 
licence to operate and the sustainability of our 
operations.
•  Inclusive Stakeholder Engagement and 

Relationship Policy

•  Sound and transparent working engagements 
with governments at national, regional and 
local levels

•  Open and honest relationships with our host 

communities

Financial capital (p75)

We require financial capital to expand 
our footprint, which is provided by banks, 
shareholders and bond-holders.
•  US$584m capital expenditure
•  US$868m cash generated

Manufactured capital (p69)

Our manufactured capital refers to our 
investment in machinery, equipment, technology 
and ICT infrastructure at our mines and projects. 
It also includes the goods and services we need 
to develop and sustain these assets. 
•  Nine operating mines (including our Asanko 

JV) and one project

•  US$409m sustaining capital and US$175m 

growth capital

•  Strong Mineral Reserves and Resources 

position

Intellectual capital (p73)

Our people and partners’ intellectual input 
informs our strategic objectives, drives 
innovation and efficiencies, and aids risk 
management. This is underpinned by a strong 
ethos of good governance and ethics.
•  Innovation and technology that improve cost, 

safety and productivity
•  Modernisation strategy
•  Business improvement initiatives

(cid:132) Positive

(cid:132) Negative 

36

Constraints to the  
availability of our inputs

•  Attracting and retaining a steady 

supply of the right skills in a highly 
competitive environment 

•  Sourcing the right skills from our host 

communities

•  Increasing the diversity of our 

leadership teams

•  The impact of climate change on our 
mines and surrounding communities
•  Operating in water-stressed regions
•  Security of power supply and cost 

of energy

•  The trust gap between mining 
companies, governments and 
communities

•  The impact of market sentiment and 
geopolitical developments on the gold 
price and foreign exchange rates

•  Ageing infrastructure at our older 

mines

•  Balancing the requirement of 

modernising our mines with cost 
reductions

•  Developing the right talent to meet 
the future needs of an increasingly 
mechanised, modernising and 
automated mining industry

•  Reskilling the existing workforce 
to ensure we can retain their 
experience and knowledge

BUSINESS PROCESSES

Our active portfolio management approach has 
enabled us to build a geographically diversified 
portfolio with nine mines and one project in five 
countries. We focus on the following elements:

1EXPLORATION

Acquiring or 
developing lower-
cost (than Group 
average), longer-
life assets

2DEVELOPMENT

Extending the life 
of current assets 
through near-
mine brownfields 
exploration

OUTCOMES FOR THE BUSINESS  
AND STAKEHOLDERS DURING 2020

Human capital

Natural capital

(cid:132) US$412m paid in salaries 

and benefits

(cid:132) US$6.8m spent on training 

and development

(cid:132) Zero Level 3 – 5 

environmental incidents  
for the second  
consecutive year

(cid:132) Recycled 71% of water 

withdrawn and reduced our 
freshwater intake by 3% 

(cid:132) One fatal incident

(cid:132) 10 deaths among our people 

(March 2020 –  
March 2021) due to  
Covid-19-related illnesses

(cid:132) 10 new cases of Silicosis 
submitted to health 
authorities

(cid:132) Six serious injuries

(cid:132) Achieved an A score in the 

CDP’s Water Disclosure Project, 
demonstrating leadership 
in water stewardship and 
reporting transparency

(cid:132) 1.97Mt CO2e

(cid:132) 200Mt of total material  

moved

(cid:132) All mines, implemented at 

least 93% of their progressive 
rehabilitation plans

(cid:132) 20% of our total workforce 

are women, including women 
in leadership

(cid:132) 12 community grievances 
relating to environmental 
stewardship

 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

HOW WE OPERATE

Gold Fields has firmly positioned itself as a global diversified gold producer with a quality portfolio of mechanised underground 
and open-pit mines. Our business model explains how we aim to fulfil our strategic objectives, as well as how we create, 
preserve or erode value for our stakeholders over time. 

Gold Fields manages its business with the overriding strategic objective to 
continually improve the quality of its portfolio by lowering All-in costs (AIC), 
thereby increasing free cash-flow (FCF) margin per ounce of gold produced. 

3MINING

In-country opportunities 
to leverage off our 
existing footprint, 
infrastructure and skills 
set, and capitalise on 
the experience we have 
gained from operating in 
these jurisdictions

4PROCESSING

Disposing of 
higher-cost, shorter-
life assets that 
management believes 
can be better served 
by a company that 
has more time and 
resources to commit 
to them

5MINE CLOSURE

Environmental 
stewardship, through 
which we protect 
and enhance 
relationships between 
our operations and 
host communities

OUTPUTS

2.24Moz  
of attributable gold-eq 
production (p69)
24.8kt  
of attributable copper production 
(p70)
141Mt  
mining waste produced (p104)
59Mt  
of tailings waste (p103)
10.0Gl 
of freshwater used (p99)
1.969Mt  
CO2e emissions (p101)

Social and relationship capital

Financial capital

Manufactured capital

Intellectual capital

(cid:132) US$17m invested in programmes 
and projects that benefit our host 
communities

(cid:132) US$868m in mine 

cash-flow

(cid:132) US$112m spent on Salares Norte 

project, with construction ahead of plan

(cid:132) Employment for 8,752 members of 

our host communities (53% of our total 
workforce)

(cid:132) US$253m paid in 

interest and dividends

(cid:132) Invested US$50m in near-mine 

exploration (including Salares Norte)

(cid:132) US$536m spent with host community 
enterprises (29% of total procurement 
costs)

(cid:132) Net debt decreased to 
US$1,069m (2019: 
US$1,664m)

(cid:132)

Damang Reinvestment project in Ghana 
providing strong returns

(cid:132)

South Deep and Cerro Corona closed 
for a number of days as part of 
nationwide lockdowns in response to 
Covid-19

(cid:132) Completed one of the world’s 
largest renewable energy 
microgrids at Agnew and installed 
a microgrid at Granny Smith

(cid:132) Installed an advanced collision 
avoidance system in Ghana to 
reduce worksite accidents and 
injuries

(cid:132) Continued investment in South 

Deep, South Africa’s largest bulk, 
mechanised, underground gold 
mine

(cid:132) 86% of our employees are from our 
countries of operation and 96% of 
all goods and services are procured 
in-country

(cid:132) US$381m paid to governments in 

taxes and royalties

(cid:132) 139 community grievances

(cid:132) JSE share price up 46%;  
NYSE share price up 
42%

(cid:132) Lost 3.5% of production against 

original market guidance due to impact 
of the Covid-19 pandemic

(cid:132) Salares Norte signs contract to 

instal 26MW microgrid, including 
10MW solar

(cid:132) Total dividend of R4.80/

share declared, up 200% 
from 2019

(cid:132) Replaced 103% of depleted Mineral 

Reserves

(cid:132) Salares Norte signs contract to 

use dry-stack tailings, one of the 
most environmentally responsible 
tailings solutions

(cid:132) US$467m in gross 

mining closure liabilities

(cid:132) Lower production and higher costs  
at the Cerro Corona mine due to  
Covid-19-related actions

(cid:132) Increased use of real-time data 
to enable decisions that facilitate 
safer and more productive mines

(cid:132) Released our first Report to 

Stakeholders, providing increased 
transparency on the impact of our 
operations on key stakeholders

(cid:132) US$30m spent on 
Covid-19-related 
programmes to assist our 
employees, communities 
and governments 

(cid:132) Continued improvement in production 
and costs at the South Deep mine 
amid successful implementation of 
restructuring initiatives

(cid:132) Introduction of drones 

underground for tasks like cavity 
scanning, remote drill hole 
surveying and cleaning 

37

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

VALUE CREATION FOR OUR STAKEHOLDERS

The sustainability of our operations depends on mutually beneficial relationships with our key stakeholders. We therefore 
focus on constructive, transparent and open engagement which, we believe, will create enduring value for our stakeholders 
and the Company. 

TOTAL AND NATIONAL VALUE DISTRIBUTION BY REGION AND TYPE 2020 (US$m)

Employees

SED spend1

Capital 
providers

Business 
partners

Governments

National value 
distribution

Australia

Americas

South Africa

West Africa

Corporate

Total Gold Fields

145

42

86

80

60

4124

1

3

32

10

0

17

7

4

2

12

229

253

716

167

190

615

98

1,786

143

58

23

171

7

381

1,013

273

283

887

394

2,849

1 Socio-economic development spend in host communities 
2 This includes US$1m from the South Deep trusts 
3 South Deep does not yet pay income tax as it is in a loss-making position
4 This excludes benefits paid to employees working on capital projects

 Employees 

VALUE DISTRIBUTION PER REGION

(cid:122) Americas 
(cid:122) Australia 
(cid:122) South Africa 
(cid:122) West Africa 
(cid:122) Corporate 

10%
35%
21%
19%
15%

PAYMENTS INCLUDE  
salaries and wages, benefits and bonuses.

US$412m  
paid in salaries and benefits 
53%  
host community employment

38

KEY CONCERNS AND EXPECTATIONS
•  Learning and development
•  Performance management
•  Competitive remuneration and benefits
•  Job security amid Covid-19
•  An inclusive and enabling culture with opportunities for innovation
•  Safe and healthy working environments
•  A company that is ethical and sustainable

VALUE CREATED FOR EMPLOYEES IN RESPONSE TO THEIR KEY CONCERNS 
AND EXPECTATIONS
•  Paid competitive salaries with a strong performance-based component
•  Optimised business processes and operational efficiencies
•  Continued to implement modern working practices to facilitate greater  

work-life balance

•  Cultivated a stringent safety and health culture

 For more information, refer to p56 of the IAR and our Report to Stakeholders.

HOW WE SUPPORTED OUR EMPLOYEES DURING COVID-19
•  Paid all our employees their base salaries
•  Provided testing and quarantine facilities
•  Enabled office and administrative staff to work from home
•  Enabled older employees and those with comorbidities to work from home at 

all times

•  Instituted flexi-time working arrangements
•  Reduced international and regional travel
•  Implemented standard operating procedures once employees started returning 

to offices

•  Imposed mandatory social distancing, sanitation and mask-wearing practices 

at our sites and offices

•  Established a dedicated Covid-19 information portal
•  Offered mental health support programmes

 
 
 
 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

HOW WE OPERATE

 Host Communities

Number of engagements in 2020: 658 (2019: 364)

TOTAL COMMUNITY VALUE 
DISTRIBUTION PER REGION1

(cid:122) Americas 
(cid:122) Australia 
(cid:122) South Africa 
(cid:122) West Africa 

5%
34%
13%
48%

1 Value distribution comprises procurement, 

employee wages and investment in
socio-economic development (SED)
See also p83

PAYMENTS INCLUDE  
procurement, employee wages and investment in SED.

US$17m  
invested in SED 
US$536m  
spent on host community procurement
US$123m  
spent on host community employee wages
Total: US$676m

KEY CONCERNS AND EXPECTATIONS
•  Employment and procurement opportunities
•  Skills and enterprise development
•  Environmental rehabilitation
•  Community investment
•  Protection of heritage sites

VALUE CREATED FOR COMMUNITIES IN RESPONSE TO THEIR KEY CONCERNS 
AND EXPECTATIONS
•  Roll-out of Shared Value projects and host community initiatives have increased 
the percentage of value distributed to host communities to 28% of total value 
created by Gold Fields

•  Created jobs and business opportunities through host community procurement 
•  Unlocked opportunities for host community employment in the mines, their 

contractors and suppliers, their suppliers, and non-mining sectors

•  Invested in integrated community development, including health and wellbeing, 

environment and infrastructure

•  Expanded skills base in host community by unlocking education and training 

opportunities

 For more information, refer to p81 of the IAR and our Report to Stakeholders.

HOW WE SUPPORTED OUR COMMUNITIES DURING COVID-19
•  Donated to government and industry response funds
•  Donated medical equipment to local hospitals and clinics
•  Distributed personal protective equipment to host communities
•  Distributed food to vulnerable people
•  Donated sanitising materials and equipment to local government to curb the 

spread of Covid-19

•  Launched radio and television campaigns to raise awareness and dispel myths 

around the virus

 Capital providers

VALUE DISTRIBUTION PER REGION

(cid:122) Americas 
(cid:122) Australia 
(cid:122) South Africa 
(cid:122) West Africa 
(cid:122) Corporate 

1%
3%
1%
5%
90%

Number of engagements in 2020: 508 (2019: 481)

KEY CONCERNS AND EXPECTATIONS
•  Sustainable returns on investment
•  A strong balance sheet
•  Execution of Gold Fields’ strategy
•  Sound and ethical leadership
•  Succession planning for executive management

PAYMENTS INCLUDE  
interest and dividend payments.

US$253m  
paid to the providers of debt  
and equity capital
Reduced net debt by  
US$595m 

VALUE CREATED FOR CAPITAL PROVIDERS IN RESPONSE TO THEIR KEY 
CONCERNS AND EXPECTATIONS
•  Developed and maintained a strong portfolio of mines
•  Damang Reinvestment project and Gruyere provide solid returns
•  Identified and appointed new CEO 
•  Continued to fund the development, maintenance and growth of our operations 
•  Improved share price and increased dividends
•  Reduced net debt and maintained strong balance sheet

 For more information, refer to p74 of the IAR and our Report to Stakeholders.

HOW WE SUPPORTED OUR CAPITAL PROVIDERS DURING COVID-19
•  Limited the impact of the pandemic on our operational performance

39

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

VALUE CREATION FOR OUR STAKEHOLDERS CONTINUED

 Business partners (contractors and suppliers)

VALUE DISTRIBUTION PER REGION

(cid:122) Americas 
(cid:122) Australia 
(cid:122) South Africa 
(cid:122) West Africa 
(cid:122) Corporate 

9%
40%
11%
34%
6%

PAYMENTS INCLUDE  
operations and capital procurement.

US$1,786m  
paid to suppliers and contractors
29%  
of mine operational and capital spend (excluding 
utilities) is with host community firms

KEY CONCERNS AND EXPECTATIONS
•  In-country and host community procurement of goods and services
•  Investment in enterprise and supplier development
•  Sustainable materials and supply chain stewardship
•  Sustainable and value-driven relationships

VALUE CREATED FOR BUSINESS PARTNERS IN RESPONSE TO THEIR KEY 
CONCERNS AND EXPECTATIONS
•  96% of total procurement spend is from in-country businesses
•  US$536m of total procurement spend by our mines – 29% of total – was spent 

on suppliers and contractors from our host communities 

•  Included all business partners in our health and safety management systems
•  Provided suppliers in Australia with a toolkit on the Modern Slavery Act 2018

 For more information, refer to p84 of the IAR and our Report to Stakeholders.

HOW WE SUPPORTED OUR BUSINESS PARTNERS DURING COVID-19
•  Provided contractor employees with access to our testing and quarantine facilities
•  Imposed mandatory social distancing, sanitation and mask-wearing practices at 

our sites and offices

•  Included them in our communication campaigns around Covid-19 programmes
•  Paid small, medium and micro-enterprise (SMMEs) providers and contractors 
during South Deep’s closure and salaries to mineworkers during the national 
lockdown (in South Africa)

•  Committed to paying SMMEs within 30 days of delivery of goods and/or services 

(in South Africa)

Governments

Number of engagements in 2020: 1,011 (2019: 899)

KEY CONCERNS AND EXPECTATIONS
•  Adherence to relevant legislation
•  Compliance with safety, health and environmental regulations
•  Protection of and respect for human rights 
•  Payment of taxes and other levies
•  In-country employment and procurement
•  Investments in SED projects in host communities

VALUE CREATED FOR GOVERNMENTS IN RESPONSE TO THEIR KEY 
CONCERNS AND EXPECTATIONS
•  Over 96% of procurement is sourced from companies within the countries 

of operation

•  Over 86% of employees are nationals of the countries of operation
•  Paid royalties and taxes to host governments that, if utilised appropriately, 

can enable them to develop critical infrastructure 

•  Invested in SED projects that also grow and sustain non-mining jobs

 For more information, refer to p92 of the IAR and our Report to Stakeholders.

HOW WE SUPPORTED GOVERNMENTS DURING COVID-19
•  Adhered to all government regulations and protocols 
•  Donated to government or industry response funds
•  Donated medical equipment to government run hospitals and clinics
•  Engaged directly with host governments to raise awareness within host 

communities

•  Assisted local government efforts such as street sanitation

VALUE DISTRIBUTION PER REGION

(cid:122) Americas 
(cid:122) Australia 
(cid:122) South Africa 
(cid:122) West Africa 
(cid:122) Corporate 

15%
37%
1%
45%
2%

PAYMENTS INCLUDE  
mining royalties and land-use payments, taxes, duties 
and levies.

US$381m  
paid in taxes and royalties
US$22m  
paid to the Ghana government in dividends 
relating to its 10% stake in each of Damang 
and Tarkwa

40

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

MATERIAL MATTERS

Our materiality analysis identifies the 
significant economic, environmental, 
social and governance factors that 
could substantively influence the 
decisions our capital providers and 
other stakeholders make about 
Gold Fields’ ability to deliver on its 
strategic objectives and create value 
over the short, medium and long 
term. This analysis contributes to the 
development of the Group’s business 
plans and strategies. 

Gold Fields conducts an annual 
materiality analysis, which is informed 
by our strategic and risk management 
processes, among others. Our 2020 
materiality analysis expands our 2019 
build-up of material topics or matters. 
In the 2019 exercise we focused on 
revising and updating our scope and 
boundaries in line with our changing 
business footprint, confirmed our 
economic, environmental, social and 
governance-focused material matters, 
and prioritised and ranked those 

MATERIALITY ASSESSMENT

HOW WE OPERATE

topics that are most important to 
Gold Fields and our stakeholders. 

During our 2020 analysis, we revisited 
our 2019 material topics to confirm 
their continued relevance to Gold 
Fields. The impact of Covid-19 – to 
both Gold Fields and our stakeholders 
– was a new material topic introduced 
to this year’s analysis, and has been 
rated as the most material matter 
during the year. We separated 
stakeholder engagement and 
relations from direct and indirect 
socio-economic benefits in 2020, 
mostly due to the significance of 
this topic to our stakeholders. The 
ranking of other material matters did 
not change in 2020, and there were 
no significant inclusions or exclusions 
from the overall matters identified 
previously. 

We identified opportunities to diversify 
our stakeholder engagements and 
widen the number of interviewees 
from different stakeholder groups. 

We were not able to have as 
many face-to-face stakeholder 
interactions as originally planned, 
but through electronic interviews 
and engagements, as appropriate, 
we could conduct and supplement 
our engagements while navigating 
Covid-19-related restrictions. This 
enabled us to receive input from 
material stakeholders across the 
Group, including employees, host 
communities, governments, industry 
associations, media, third parties and 
traditional authorities. 

In line with our revised 2019 
presentation of the material matters, 
we categorised our material matters 
as economic, environmental, social 
and governance. The 2020 materiality 
analysis is concluded with an internal 
validation process to confirm strategic 
alignment with our business.

The map below graphically represents 
the outcomes of the 2020 materiality 
assessment:

Stakeholder engagement and relations 

Covid-19 

Health and safety 

MATERIAL TOPICS

  Environment

  Social

  Economic and 
Governance

Human capital 

Direct and indirect socio-economic benefits 

  Labour practices

 Human rights

Board governance 

  Environmental stewardship

  Procurement practices

  Environmental compliance 

Corporate governance 

  Climate risk 

Tailings management 

Water stewardship 

 Biodiversity

Energy and carbon management 

 Culture and heritage

 Materials stewardship and supply chain

Social and geopolitical risk 

Indigenous peoples 

LESS

MATERIAL TO GOLD FIELDS

MORE

41

E
R
O
M

S
R
E
D
L
O
H
E
K
A
T
S
O
T

I

L
A
R
E
T
A
M

S
S
E
L

 
 
  
  
 
 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES 

Assessing the risks to Gold Fields' sustainability is a collective effort by management at Group, regional and operational levels. This, along with identifying the 
appropriate mitigating actions, is a critical internal management tool to reduce the potential impacts of identified risks. 

Risk mitigations are included in the annual Group performance scorecard and cascaded down to the performance scorecards of management employees at 
regional and operational levels. The formal risk review process starts during management’s annual strategic planning sessions, where strategic and emerging 
risks, as well as macro-trends, are analysed as part of developing the Company’s risk register and mitigating actions. These are reviewed and updated quarterly 
and presented to the Board’s Risk Committee twice a year for verification. As a global company, we continue to be shaped by the external dynamics in the 
regions where we operate. We discuss the impact of longer-term, emerging global trends in general and in Gold Fields on p45.

Top 20 Group risks in 2020

Severity

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

1

(2019: 
 new risk)

2

(2019: 1)

3

(2019: 2)

5

14

18

19

4

7

13

17

11

16

2

3

8

9

10

12

15

1

6

20

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1 0

RISK

Probability

MITIGATING ACTION

COVID-19
The impact of Covid-19 on our employees, communities and 
business plan

GOLD/FOREX EXCHANGE
Gold price and currency exchange rate volatility

Potential impact of Covid-19 
The gold price traded above US$1,800/oz since the start 
of the pandemic. Investors turned to gold as a safe haven 
following the outbreak of Covid-19 and the resultant 
global economic uncertainty. With the pandemic abating 
and greater political certainty following the US elections, 
investors have started to sell gold and gold stocks.

Our mines adhere strictly to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) 
as well as country-specific regulations, government decrees and protocols. Furthermore, we 
circulate hygiene awareness campaigns, implement social distancing programmes, and screen, 
test and monitor our employees across the Group. More recently, we started collaborating with 
governments to secure vaccines for our workforce while also providing infrastructure and know-
how for the roll-out of their vaccination plans. We are also looking at ways of entrenching “new 
normal’’ such as remote working and restricted travel in our ways of working.

We design our business plans based on a conservative gold price and set free cash-flow 
targets for our operations. These plans are then monitored through monthly and quarterly 
cost, capital and production reviews, where we discuss and implement remedial action, 
if required. We do not hedge metal or foreign exchange prices, unless we seek to protect 
cash-flows at times of significant capex or to address specific debt servicing requirements.

SOUTH DEEP 
Loss of investor confidence due to non-achievement of the 
mine’s business plan 

South Deep achieved its Covid-19 risk-adjusted business plan of 7,000kg (225koz) at AIC 
of R610,000/kg (US$1,394/oz). The South Deep team will continue to use their established 
management system to drive disciplined execution of the mine’s business plan, while 
implementing business improvement initiatives across the value chain to position the mine 
for sustainable production.

  For a more detailed assessment on how we determine our risks and materiality, see www.goldfields.com/risk-materiality.php 

42

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

HOW WE OPERATE

RISK

MITIGATING ACTION

4  

(2019: 3)

RESOURCE NATIONALISM
Resource nationalism, regulatory uncertainty and government 
imposts

Potential impact of Covid-19 
The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic will likely 
be felt for the near future, and we expect that governments 
will eventually seek additional tax income from corporations. 
The gold industry could be a specific target, as governments 
perceived it to have benefitted from a higher gold price.

Gold Fields, on its own and in conjunction with its peers, seeks to address the trust gap 
that often exists between government and miners. Our government action plants rely on 
strengthened engagement with governments at all levels, continued roll-out of Shared Value 
projects that benefit host communities and improved communication on the socio-economic 
benefits of mining for host countries and host communities. Legal actions are only considered 
as a last resort and then mostly with our peers in a country of operation. The Board is 
appraised of social and political risks annually through external reports.

5  

(2019: 4)

MINERAL RESOURCES AND MINERAL 
RESERVES
Replacing Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves in Australia, 
Ghana, Peru and Chile

We continue to evaluate value-accretive opportunities to expand our business, including 
acquisitions, disposals, JVs, new mine builds and other strategic projects. The construction 
of our latest project, Salares Norte, is progressing against plan, and we have provided 
for additional exploration budget. Our regions all have comprehensive near-mine/on-
site exploration programmes in place, and we monitor our performance against these 
programmes during our quarterly business reviews. Over the past 10 years, our Australian 
mines have consistently replaced depleted Mineral Reserves and more.

MINING COSTS
Rising mining costs, including those relating to ESG

6  

(2019: 5)

Potential impact of Covid-19 
Mining companies were already exposed to higher inflation 
prior to the pandemic, and Covid-19 may lead to additional 
costs.

We have business, productivity and cost improvement processes and programmes in place 
at all our operations, which are supported by the implementation of our innovation and 
technology strategy to reduce costs and enhance revenue generation. We have monthly 
and quarterly business cost and capital reviews in place to ensure spending remains in 
line with plans. Each mine provides cost guidance to the market at the beginning of the 
financial year.

SAFETY
Safety and health of our employees, including occupational 
illnesses

ENERGY 
Security of power supply and cost of energy

7  

(2019: 6)

8  

(2019: 8)

The safety, health and wellbeing of our employees is paramount. With safety as our 
number one priority, we continuously review and upgrade our safety systems, cultures and 
programmes. In 2019, we implemented our Courageous Safety Leadership programme 
throughout the Group, which is complemented by critical controls, behaviour-based safety 
and Visible Felt Leadership programmes in all our regions. All operations are certified to the 
leading ISO 45001 health and safety standard.

Over the past five years, we have gradually replaced diesel with low-carbon gas as the main 
form of electricity at our Ghanaian and Australian mines. More recently, we have shifted to 
renewable energy, which not only secures stable and cost-effective supply but also reduces 
our carbon emissions. In Australia, we commissioned renewable microgrids, supported 
by battery systems, at Granny Smith and Agnew and advanced plans to install a similar 
microgrid at Gruyere. Most recently, South Deep received regulatory approval for its 40MW 
solar plant and, at Salares Norte, Aggreko signed a 10-year contract to provide a 26MW 
hybrid solar and thermal power solution once the mine is operational.

CLIMATE CHANGE
Failure to implement climate change adaptation measures 

9  

(2019: 9)

Potential impact of Covid-19 
The focus on climate change issues was only temporarily 
abated because of the pandemic. While governments have 
prioritised Covid-19 recovery funding, investments in climate 
change programmes were generally not affected.

Given the growing concern and uncertainty around extreme weather events, we are reviewing 
our climate change vulnerability risk assessments and, where necessary, adapting our 
approach in response to the changing environment. We continue to enhance the resilience 
of our operations – by, for example, rolling out renewable energy initiatives – while also 
improving our disclosure and implementing measures to adapt to climate-related changes 
at an operational level. We periodically assess and, where possible, mitigate the impact of 
climate change on our operations and our host communities.

CYBERCRIME
Cybercrime/loss of information and communication technologies 
(ICT) data

Potential impact of Covid-19 
Cybercrime increased significantly during the pandemic, with 
cybercriminals taking advantage of employees working from 
home with limited ICT protection in place.

10  

(2019: 10)

We continue to protect operational technology to decrease disruptions and ensure 
business continuity. Due to the dramatic increase in cybercrime globally, we implemented a 
software platform across the Group to safeguard infrastructure critical to our sustainability. 
Furthermore, we embedded additional software precautions at the onset of Covid-19 to 
protect our business against attacks as our people transitioned to home offices. All our mines 
and offices achieved ISO 27001 cybersecurity certification in 2020.

SOCIAL LICENCE
Impact on social licence and relationships with host community 

11  

(2019: 12)

Potential impact of Covid-19 
The pandemic escalated economic hardships in our host 
communities, who now have heightened expectations that 
our mines will provide financial and other assistance to 
alleviate their burden.

We continue to strengthen the relationships with our host communities through enhanced 
stakeholder engagement and community relations programmes. Furthermore, we continue to 
invest in Shared Value projects that benefit our operations and host communities in Ghana, 
Peru, Chile and South Africa. This focuses on host community employment, procurement and 
SED investments. In Australia, we developed an Indigenous Peoples framework and strategy 
for approval and implementation, as well as a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) to guide 
relations with and create opportunities for Indigenous Peoples at our mines. 

43

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES CONTINUED

RISK

MITIGATING ACTION

SKILLS 
Attraction and retention of skills 

Potential impact of Covid-19 
For now, the negative global financial and business impacts 
of Covid-19 resulted in a decrease in our turnover rate in 
most of the regions where we operate. The longer-term 
impacts of the pandemic, such as remote working and 
reduced travel, will fundamentally change the way we work. 

Gold Fields’ business depends on fit-for-purpose human resource (HR) structures to meet 
operational requirements. We focus on developing a high-performance culture through our 
performance management system and by having the appropriate succession plans and 
talent reviews in place. Above all, we seek to provide competitive and incentive-focused 
remuneration packages that attract and retain sought after skills. We have also developed 
and implemented a diversity and inclusion dashboard, to track our progress in building a 
more diverse workforce.

WATER
Water pollution, security and reduction in freshwater 
consumption

All our operations are certified to the ISO 14001 environmental standard, which require 
sound water management and disclosure. Furthermore, we developed and integrated three-
year regional water management plans with our 2021 business plans at all our operations. 
Finally, water recycling, reuse and conservation practices are in place in all regions, with 
targets achieved for 2020.

GEOTECHNICAL
Increased geotechnical risk underground and in open pits 
associated with mining at depth, ageing pits and evolving mining 
operations

Work conducted by the Geotechnical Review Boards, consisting of independent and in-house 
industry experts, continued at South Deep for all major projects, the Australian underground 
operations, when necessary, and for all pit cutbacks at our other operations in Australia, 
Ghana and Peru.

  GHANA CONTRACTORS

Challenges with local mining contractors in Ghana

  CHILE 

Delays and cost overrun relating to the Salares Norte project 

POLITICAL RISKS
Political uncertainty in the areas where we operate

We are working closely with the two Ghanaian mining contractors at our Tarkwa and Damang 
operations to ensure that they meet their contractual obligations to the mines while at the 
same time remaining financially sound. This has required renegotiations of their contracts 
and bringing in OEMs to provide technical assistance for fleet maintenance, as well as 
financial support to provide debt relief and to procure additional fleet. 

With construction starting at Salares Norte during 2020, our team implemented robust 
project control systems. Performance against our project plan is monitored weekly and 
monthly and is tracking against plan. We continue to adhere to government-related Covid-19 
restrictions, rules and laws, and have increased camp capacity to accommodate the 
required workforce. The team also maintains a close working relationships with authorities, 
environmentalists and local communities on the Chinchilla relocation project.

Our strategy of geographic de-risking towards mining-friendly jurisdictions ensures that 
we operate in countries in which political risks are limited in the first place. Continuous 
engagement with our host communities and governments, either directly or through industry 
associations, is a primary tool in seeking to address emerging political risks. We conduct 
political risk assessments on a regular basis in all the countries in which we operate.

INFRASTRUCTURE
Ageing infrastructure 

Potential impact of Covid-19 
The pandemic illustrated that automation and digitisation 
are going to be major themes in mining – not just as a way 
to lower costs and improve productivity, but also to support 
remote workforces and reduce on-site presence. 

Planned on-site maintenance and condition monitoring, which is conducted by third-party 
specialists, is key to ensuring the integrity of our fixed assets. Critical and long lead-time 
spares are kept on-site, and maintenance of critical spares is ongoing. To complement this, 
we instituted a process of independent risk management, fire prevention and infrastructure 
audits, which are conducted annually by insurance risk engineers and third parties. However, 
some of the inspections could not be carried out due to Covid-19 restrictions. We have 
sought in-country expertise to carry out independent assessments, where necessary. 

INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY 
Failure to modernise operations

  EZULWINI AND COOKE 3, 2 AND 1

Ezulwini and Cooke 3, 2 and 1 rewatering impact on South Deep

We continue to implement our innovation and technology strategy in pursuit of a Gold Fields 
Mine of the Future. As part of this, we have real-time software and telecommunications in 
place to track movement of equipment, people and production. We also work closely with 
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers to ensure that we are fast followers 
of new, beneficial mine technologies. A shift to renewable energies as well as the roll-out of 
electrical machinery and equipment also helps to modernise operations, while at the same 
time improving costs and safety.

The reinforced concrete water plugs between South Deep and Ezulwini are subject to robust 
inspections, regularly planned maintenance and a condition-monitoring programme to ensure 
their integrity. There is a legal process for Ezulwini’s closure in place, in which we participate 
as an interested party backed by a robust legal strategy. South Deep is also seeking to work 
with Ezulwini to find alternative solutions to use the mine water.

12  

(2019: 7)

13  

(2019: 13)

14  

(2019: 14)

15  

(2019: 15)

16  

(2019: not 
ranked)

17  

(2019: not 
ranked)

18  

(2019: 17)

19  

(2019: 19)

20  

(2019: 18)

44

 
 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

HOW WE OPERATE

EMERGING GLOBAL TRENDS

As a global company, we continue to be shaped by the external dynamics in the regions where we operate. We closely 
observe these longer-term strategic and emerging risks, prioritising them as needed and adjusting our mitigating actions 
accordingly to protect the sustainability of our business. While many of our top 20 Group risks will remain relevant in the 
long term, we specifically monitor any developing any emerging trends that will inform adjustments to our strategy. This 
year we assessed, analysed and recommended ways to remediate the following five emerging (longer-term) trends that 
have been identified by the ICMM in partnership with Brodie Consulting: 

EMERGING  
GLOBAL TREND

CONTEXT

Tech-led mining will continue to disrupt business as we know it 
today, and while the expectation is that these disruptive technologies 
could make our lives easier, it also leads to new and emerging risks 
to our business.

1  

Ubiquity of 
technology

2  

Extreme climate 
change impacts

The concern for global environmental degradation continues to 
increase significantly. Our impact on the planet are becoming more 
evident – heat records across the world are broken regularly, the 
effects of which are detrimental to native fauna and flora. The 
pressure to accelerate to a low-carbon economy is becoming 
increasingly important. Globally, 26 banks are no longer providing 
direct financing for new coal plant projects. Similarly, mining 
companies are recognising the importance of reducing their carbon 
emissions to slow down climate change. 

3  

New barometer 
of ethics

The Covid-19 pandemic, which led to high levels of joblessness, has 
substantially accelerated the erosion of trust around the world and 
raised increased attention on how companies treat their employees. 
Furthermore, stakeholders increasingly link being a good employer 
to being a good business overall, with a company’s treatment of its 
employees as a barometer of trust.

4  

Capitalism reforms

There is an increased urgency for businesses to be more responsible 
than ever before. This requires a renewed focus on purpose and 
a move away from maximising shareholder value to solving the 
problems of people and planet profitably. Corporate action is required 
to transform our current landscape into one that is more inclusive 
and cohesive by focusing on fairer market outcomes, investments 
that advance shared goals, and harnessing the innovations of the 
Fourth Industrial Revolution. 

5   

Radical 
transparency

The importance of risks relating to the regulatory landscape, 
including compliance, are expected to significantly increase over the 
next few years. Trust in all information sources is at a record low, 
and pressure from stakeholders is driving an enhanced focus on 
transparency and ethical supply chains. It is essential that companies 
embrace digital technologies to keep up with increasingly stringent 
regulations, as well as customers’ expectations for transparency and 
disclosure.

STRATEGIC RESPONSES TO STRENGTHEN OUR FUTURE 
MARKET POSITION

•  Investing in data innovation to enable real-time decision 

control and decision making

•  Integrating data across our value chain using real-time data 

platforms

•  Retraining and reskilling our workforce across the Group – 
including those employees from our host communities
•  Implementing Gold Fields’ innovation and technology (I&T) 
strategy to improve safety, productivity and lower cost

•  Leveraging the opportunity to transition to a virtual working 
environment to attract employees in the technology field 
without the need for relocation

•  Setting time-bound (2030) targets with an accompanying 

roadmap for biodiversity 

•  Aligning conservation efforts with climate resilience
•  Quantifying the financial value of natural resources, as well 

as our impact on them

•  Collaborating with key stakeholders to improve the general 
social perception of mining, and effectively applying the 
principles of a green and circular economy

•  Integrating our social licence to operate and social 

performance into business decision-making, ensuring it 
becomes as important as protecting the health and safety 
of our employees

•  Continue linking remuneration to environmental, social and 

governance (ESG) performance metrics to incentivise change 

•  More continuous stakeholder interactions, including non-

governmental organisations (NGOs)

•  Open and transparent communication with our key 

stakeholders and the general public to further strengthen our 
reputation

•  Enhancing the compelling narrative on the importance of ESG 

to attract the next purpose-driven generation

•  Developing data platforms that provide real-time data 

accessible to outside stakeholders

•  Reinforcing confidence in Gold Fields as a mining company by 

complying with all regulatory requirements

•  Subscribing to transparency-focused initiatives, including 
EITI, Publish What you Pay (for taxation) and Transparency 
International

•  Complying with best practice disclosure practices, including 

the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM)

45

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

TOP FIVE RISKS PER REGION IN 2020

AMERICAS
Severity 

AUSTRALIA
Severity

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

4

5

3

2

1

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

3

2

4

5

1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Probability

Probability

RISK

MITIGATING ACTION

RISK

MITIGATING ACTION

COVID-19
The impact of 
Covid-19 on our 
employees and 
host communities

1  

LIFE-OF-MINE 
Life-of-mine 
extension at Cerro 
Corona

2  

SALARES 
NORTE 
Delays to the 
project due to 
Covid-19 and 
relocation of the 
protected Short-
tailed Chinchilla

3  

GOLD/
COPPER 
Gold and copper 
prices and 
exchange rate 
volatility

4  

Management in Peru has implemented 
comprehensive Covid-19 mitigation and 
education programmes with strict adherence to 
government protocols. Robust control measures 
were implemented, including hygiene awareness 
campaigns, working from home, social distancing 
programmes, screening, testing and monitoring of 
employees. Community and government support 
programmes were developed.

The accelerated mining and stockpiling to 
facilitate early in-pit tailings is on plan and is being 
complimented by low-grade stocks to reduce 
the risk of ore availability. Further work is being 
carried out on the feasibility study for the 2030 
life-of-mine extension with ongoing support from 
the Corporate Technical Services team.

The team at Salares Norte have implemented 
robust project control systems, with weekly and 
monthly monitoring of performance against 
project schedule, to date the project is performing 
well. There is strict adherence to government-
related Covid-19 restrictions, rules and laws with 
increased camp capacity to accommodate social 
distancing protocols. The team also maintains 
close working relationships with authorities, 
environmentalists and local communities on the 
Chinchilla relocation project.

There is a robust and mature monthly and 
quarterly business performance monitoring 
processes in place and adjustments are made 
where required to ensure that the mine remains 
profitable amid varying market conditions. All our 
mines have business improvement structures and 
processes in place. For 2021, we have put copper 
hedges in place to provide guaranteed cash-flow.

SOCIAL 
LICENCE 
Local social 
pressures, conflicts 
and increased 
community 
expectations due to 
national elections

5  

The South American teams are extremely 
proactive in building community and stakeholder 
relationships through meaningful engagement. 
There is a stringent follow-up and feedback 
process in place to ensure integrity on all 
community commitments. Government authorities, 
both at national and regional level, are involved in 
community projects where feasible.

46

LIFE-OF-MINE 
Mineral Reserve 
life at our 
Australian mines

1  

SKILLS 
Turnover of key 
personnel and the 
impact thereof 
on operational 
performance

2  

NATIVE TITLE 
Native Title 
compensation

3  

COVID-19 
The impact of 
Covid-19 on our 
employees

4  

SAFETY
Ongoing safety 
performance

5  

There is a significant near-mine exploration 
programme in place at all our mines with the 
necessary staff and budget to delineate further 
Mineral Reserves. For 2020 and 2021, this 
includes accelerated exploration interventions at 
Agnew and St Ives. The region has also acquired 
JV ground near St Ives, which is under focused 
exploration assessment. The exploration process 
is being optimised through I&T.

Employee development programmes have 
been reviewed and improved, more regular pay 
benchmarking undertaken and retention strategies 
for core skills strengthened. Flexible working 
arrangements have been introduced to facilitate 
greater work-life balance and talent discussions 
are held quarterly at leadership level, with 
adjustments to critical roles. We have also raised 
the number of graduates taken in for scarce skills.

We continue to work closely with the Yilka and 
Sullivan Edwards people, the determined Native 
Title holders of the land on which Gruyere 
operates. At all other mines, where native title 
is being determined, we continue to engage the 
claimants. We also look for ways to sustain and 
grow employment and business opportunities, 
as well as support health, education and other 
programmes for the local Aboriginal communities. 

In the Australia region, crisis management 
protocols were initiated successfully resulting 
in zero Covid-19 cases in the entire region. 
Infectious disease managers have been appointed 
at sites to further enhance the control systems. 
Social distancing, health screening and hygiene 
requirements are being maintained. The region 
will be following the vaccine roll-out planned in 
Australia from Q1 2021.

Weekly review are conducted on all serious 
potential incidents by regional leadership teams 
with learnings communicated throughout the 
region. The Vital Behaviours programme has been 
revised and CSL sessions held at all sites and the 
Perth office, with 95% of workforce trained.

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

HOW WE OPERATE

SOUTH AFRICA

Severity

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

2

3

4

1

5

WEST AFRICA

Severity

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

5

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Probability

Probability

RISK

MITIGATING ACTION

RISK

MITIGATING ACTION

COVID-19
The impact of 
Covid-19 on our 
employees and 
host communities

1  

South Deep has implemented a leading practice 
Covid-19 programme with strict adherence 
to WHO recommendations, country-specific 
regulations, guidelines from the Minerals Council 
South Africa, government decrees and protocols. 
South Deep is in a position to help government 
with facilities, infrastructure and experience as we 
prepare for the vaccines roll-out.

OPERATIONAL 
DELIVERY 
Loss of investor 
confidence due to 
non-achievement 
of the mine’s 
business plan

2  

South Deep achieved its Covid-19 risk-adjusted 
business plan of 7,000kg (225koz) at AIC of 
R610,000/kg (US$1,394/oz). The South Deep 
team will continue to drive disciplined execution 
of the mine’s business plan, while implementing 
business improvement initiatives across the 
value chain.

SKILLS 
Unavailability of 
skills to drive the 
execution of South 
Deep’s business 
plan

3  

South Deep is proactively managing the skills 
gaps in core and critical skills with career path 
development programme, compiling a personal 
development strategy plan for each department, 
highlighting digital skills requirements and 
identifying, developing and recruiting successors 
for critical roles. Training programmes are in place 
for identified skills.

MINING 
COSTS 
The impact of 
rising costs on 
operations and 
margins

4  

Cost performance is monitored and managed 
through our monthly and quarterly business 
review process where non-performance is 
timeously identified, discussed and remediated 
through mutually agreed actions. The mine is 
also busy with cost reviews with suppliers and 
focus on increasing production and cutting 
unnecessary cost.

EZULWINI 
AND COOKE  
3, 2 AND 1
Impacts of Ezulwini 
and Cooke 3, 2 
and 1 closure on 
South Deep

5  

Judgement was handed down in Gold Fields’ 
favour regarding the closure of Ezulwini in 
January. This means Sibanye-Stillwater will have 
to continue pumping. Following this, Sibanye 
have applied for the closure of Cooke 3, 2 and 
1 to which we have objected. In the meantime, 
to safeguard our employees, the reinforced 
concrete water plugs between South Deep and 
Ezulwini are subject to a robust inspection, 
planned maintenance and condition monitoring 
programme.

COVID-19 
The impact of 
Covid-19 on our 
employees and 
host communities

1  

RESOURCE 
NATIONALISM 
Fiscal and 
government policy 
changes

2  

MINING 
CONTRACTOR 
Challenges with 
local mining 
contractor in 
Ghana

3  

DAMANG 
Execution of 
the Damang 
Reinvestment 
project

4  

The Ghana region has implemented detailed 
awareness campaigns, as well as social 
distancing, work-from-home protocols, adherence 
to government restrictions on movement, including 
local and international travel. Negotiations have 
taken place with OEMs to increase in-country 
capacity to ensure the availability of parts. 
We have also contributed to national Covid-19 
initiatives.

Our primary focus has been to adherence to the 
principles and conditions in the Development 
Agreement (DA) with the Ghana government 
with ongoing legal input and strategies when 
needed. There is frequent engagement with 
relevant government departments on a number 
of issues, including awareness of the contributing 
mining makes to the country. There is also an 
engagement process through the Chamber of 
Mines.

We are working closely with the two Ghanaian 
mining contractors at Tarkwa and Damang 
to ensure that they meet their contractual 
obligations to the mines while at the same time 
remaining financially sound. This has required 
renegotiations of their contracts and bringing 
in original equipment manufacturers to provide 
technical assistance for fleet maintenance, as well 
as financial support to provide debt relief and to 
procure additional fleet.

All capital on the Damang re-investment plan 
has been recouped. The Damang team ensures 
ongoing monitoring of grade, volume and cost 
milestones, as well as strategic management 
of contractors. The pit-wall has been de-risked 
through continuous implementation of 
geotechnical recommendations.

LIFE-OF-MINE 
Mineral Reserve 
depletion at Tarkwa 
and Damang, along 
with inadequate 
organic growth of 
the Asanko JV

5  

A step-out exploration programme is in place 
to test for potential life extension at Tarkwa and 
Damang. The Asanko JV life-of-mine plan is being 
finalised, which includes recommendations on 
the future strategy of Gold Fields’ investment in 
the Asanko JV.

47

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

Gas plant at Tarkwa, Ghana

48

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE
OUR PERFORMANCE

OUR 
PERFORMANCE

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

4.7

SAFETY AND WELLBEING OF 
OUR PEOPLE P50 – 55
DEVELOPING A FIT-FOR-
PURPOSE WORKFORCE P56 – 59
CREATING A GLOBAL, 
SUSTAINABLE PORTFOLIO 
P60 – 67 
PROFITABLE PRODUCTION AND 
SUSTAINABLE CASH-FLOW  
P68 – 73
CAPITAL ALLOCATION AND 
SOUND BALANCE SHEET 
MANAGEMENT P74 – 80
VALUE CREATION FOR 
STAKEHOLDERS P81 – 95
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP  
P96 – 104

49

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

SAFETY AND WELLBEING OF OUR PEOPLE 

OVERVIEW

GOLD FIELDS 2021 BSC KPIs
•  Eliminate fatalities and serious injuries and remove people from risk
•  Improve the health and wellbeing of our workforce

2025 ESG CHARTER TARGETS  

Strategic priority

Strategic intents

Partnering to ensure the 
safety, health and wellbeing 
of our workforce and 
alleviating such impacts on 
our communities 

(cid:96) Zero fatalities and serious injuries at our 

operations

(cid:96) Eliminate vehicular incidents by implementing 
advanced collision avoidance technologies

(cid:96) Significantly reduce underground exposure to 

Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM)

(cid:96) Minimise health and environmental impacts on 

our host communities

Change room at our South Deep mine

ASSOCIATED GROUP RISKS 

No

1

7

Risk
Covid-19
The impact of Covid-19 on our 
employees, communities and business 
plan
Safety
Safety and health of our employees, 
including occupational illnesses

RELATED SDG 

Good health  
and wellbeing

TRADE-OFFS 
Our trade-offs refer to the difficult decisions made during the year in the context of resource scarcity. Below are some of 
the significant actions taken during a difficult year to do so:

•  Funded Covid-19-related programmes and projects, which led to additional spend of about US$30m AIC
•  Invested substantially in environmental stewardship to mitigate any adverse environmental impacts on our 

employees and communities

•  Will invest significantly in implementing a gap analysis and aligning the Group with the Global Industry 

Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) to prevent potential future catastrophic failings by one of our tailings dams

50

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

SAFETY
Our number one value – safety – 
drives our goal of achieving zero 
harm, as well as our target of 
eliminating all fatalities and serious 
injuries at our operations. Safety 
is critical to enabling performance 
across the Group, and is therefore 
a significant component of the 
annual performance bonuses of our 
executives, managers and broader 
workforce.

Tragically, we recorded a fatal 
incident at our South Deep mine in 
South Africa. On 3 June 2020, Abel 
Magajane, a shaft timberman, fell 
down a shaft ore-pass chute while 
doing repair work and subsequently 
succumbed to his injuries. Following 
the incident, South Deep further 
strengthened its safety systems, 
leadership and processes. Our 
sincere condolences go out to Abel’s 
family, friends and colleagues.

The number of serious injuries 
recorded during 2020 increased 
to six (2019: four). Since 2019, we 
have applied Gold Fields’ definition in 
classifying serious injuries at Group 
level. Prior to that, at South Deep, 
we applied a regulated definition of 

serious injuries, which we continue to 
use in our reports to the authorities. 
However, by applying Gold Fields’ 
definition of what constitutes a 
serious injury, we are able to focus 
on those injuries our operations can 
address with a greater sense of 
urgency.

While LTIs and the LTIFR declined 
year-on-year, serious injuries, total 
recordable injuries and the TRIFR, 
severity of incidents and their duration 
increased in 2020 when compared 
with 2019. Relying only on these 
reactive indicators to provide an 
overview of our safety performance 
may drive undesirable behaviours 
and affect the transparency of our 
reporting. As such, we moved 
away from using injury frequency 
rates as the sole indicators of our 
performance. Instead, we use a mix 
of leading and lagging indicators. 
We have structured the leading 
indicators around incentivising desired 
leadership behaviours, while the 
lagging indicators provide insight 
into the outcomes of our safety 
initiatives. The leading and lagging 
indicators are captured in each 
regions’ environment, health and 

safety scorecards, which, in turn, are 
included in our incentive programmes 
for senior employees. 

Leading indicators use proactive 
measures to pre-empt future 
incidents, such as near-miss 
incident reporting, timely close out 
of corrective actions on serious 
potential incidents (SPIs), and the 
Safety Engagement Rate (SER)5. 
Encouragingly, all leading indicators 
improved against or maintained their 
respective annual targets.

SER5

2020

2019

2018

2017

4.98

4.11

2.91

1.75

There has been a strong drive to 
encourage managers and employees 
to engage on safety matters, which, 
as seen in the continued increase 
in the SER, are having a positive 
impact despite social distancing and 
other Covid-19-related measures. 
We are confident that, over time, 
this behaviour will lead to further 
improvement in our safety culture and 
positively impact our performance.

GROUP SAFETY PERFORMANCE (EMPLOYEES AND CONTRACTORS)

Fatalities, injuries

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

3.40

2.27

2.42

2.19

2.40

1.83

4

5
1

8
6

1

7
1

9
3

3

6
2

2
5

1

7
1

4
3

1

8
4 3

1

2
6 3

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

TRIFR

4

3

2

1

0

(cid:132) Fatalities1 (cid:132) Serious injuries2 (cid:132) Lost time injuries (LTIs)3
(cid:160) Total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR)4 per million hours worked

1  We also recorded non-occupational fatalities at our mines during 2017 and 2018. In 2017, a member of the protection services team at South Deep was shot 

and killed during a robbery at the mine while, in 2018, a member of Tarkwa’s Community Security Task Force drowned in a settling pond on the mine

2  Since 2019, we have applied Gold Fields’ definition in classifying serious injuries. In terms of this definition, a serious injury is one that incurs 14 days or more 

of work lost and results in one of a range of injuries detailed at www.goldfields.com/safety.php

3  LTI is a work-related injury resulting in the employee or contractor being unable to attend work for one or more days after the day of the injury. The employee 

or contractor is unable to perform any of his/her duties. LTIFR is per million hours worked

4  TRIFR = (fatalities + LTIs + restricted work injuries + medically treated injuries) x 1,000,000/number of hours worked
5  SER = safety engagements x 1,000/number of hours worked. Safety engagements are conversations between managers and the workforce to improve safety. 

Reporting of the SER commenced in 2017 

51

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

SAFETY AND WELLBEING OF OUR PEOPLE CONTINUED

OUR APPROACH TO SAFETY
Group safety and health strategy
Our target of zero fatalities and 
serious incidents is supported by a 
Group safety and health strategy. The 
strategy – developed by the Group 
Safety Leadership forum, chaired by 
Stuart Mathews, Executive Vice-
President: Australia, and approved 
by the Board Safety, Health and 
Sustainable Development Committee 
– rests on the following six core beliefs:
•  Our leadership is responsible and 
accountable for the Group’s health 
and safety performance

•  Living the Gold Fields values is 

fundamental to our health and safety 
performance 

•  All employees should return home 

safe and healthy every day

•  Prevention is better than cure and, 
therefore, risk management is a key 
component of all systems
•  All injuries and incidents are 

preventable and rely on good 
leadership, practical systems and 
positive employee behaviours
•  Safety management should be 
seamlessly integrated into all 
activities

Furthermore, the strategy has three 
key objectives:
•  Develop a culture of safety 

leadership within the organisation 
and firmly embed safety 
management as a line management 
responsibility

•  Provide appropriate mechanisms 
to engage employees on safety 
and equip them with the necessary 
skills to consistently achieve safe 
outcomes

•  Ensure the deployment of fit-for-

purpose management systems that 
are aligned with a critical control 
management approach and are 
certified to ISO 45001

We continued to roll-out our 
Courageous Safety Leadership 
(CSL) programme in 2020, although 
Covid-19-related restrictions limited 
activities. The CSL programme 
equips our employees with practical 
tools to become safety leaders while 
also fostering an environment in 
which individuals feel empowered to 
speak out about unsafe behaviours. 
Improvements to our leading indicators 
are a positive sign of potential 
improvement. Training of employees 
and contractors in the Vital Behaviours 
programme, which entrenches the 

52

right safety behaviours and choices, is 
planned for 2021 and beyond. 

CSL training sessions were halted 
across all operations for much of 
Q2 2020. However, once Covid-19 
restrictions eased in Q3 2020, 
sessions gradually started up again 
in Australia and West Africa. In South 
America, we transitioned to online 
CSL training sessions. Strict physical 
distancing measures in South Africa 
continued to affect the number of 
employees that could attend CSL 
training sessions. By year-end, 50% 
of our workforce had completed CSL 
training.

Improving safety management systems 
and controls
All our operations are now certified 
to ISO 45001, the leading health and 
safety management standard. South 
Deep was certified in February 2021, 
having previously operated under the 
OHSAS 18001 standard. 

In 2017, we started to implement the 
ICMM’s critical control management 
approach, a process that is ongoing 
to date.  After identifying and 
prioritising generic material unwanted 
events (MUEs), as well as the 
associated preventative controls and 
mitigating actions, regions identify 
the essential critical controls. External 
verification of the critical controls 
relating to the highest priority MUEs 
were completed in 2019, with the 
critical controls for lower priority 
MUEs being externally verified during 
2020 and into 2021. 

Innovation and technology to ensure 
greater employee safety
A key driver behind the further 
mechanisation of our operations is to 
improve the safety of employees. We 
have established dedicated innovation 
and technology leadership teams in 
all regions to drive initiatives that will 
improve safety, cost and productivity.

Gold Fields participates in the ICMM’s 
Innovation for Cleaner, Safer Vehicles 
(ICSV) programme, which was 
chaired until January  2021 by our 
CEO Nick Holland, to:
•  Reduce or eliminate any injury 
through vehicle interactions

•  Ensure a healthier underground 

working environment free of diesel 
emissions

•  Reduce greenhouse gasses (GHGs) 

through electrification

The programme integrates with 
several of Gold Fields’ existing 
programmes that support this vision, 
including our:
•  Modernisation programme
•  Group energy and carbon 

management strategy, with regional 
subcommittees and plans, aimed 
at reducing energy costs and GHG 
emissions

•  Group occupational health 

and safety strategy, which is 
underpinned by regional plans 
aimed at improving safety and 
health at our operations

•  Regional I&T roadmaps and 

programmes.

Looking ahead, the following key 
initiatives are planned for 2021:
•  Deploying collision avoidance 

at South Deep: Deploying 
Level 9 collision avoidance 
systems in vehicles is equivalent 
to having adaptive cruise control 
on underground equipment, 
and should enable pre-emptive 
accident avoidance between two 
vehicles and between machines 
and workers. It is also a legislative 
requirement in South Africa

•  Improving wireless 

telecommunications: 
We are adopting wireless 
broadband telecommunication 
across our Australian surface 
operations, which enable real-
time communication and data 
transmission. Salares Norte similarly 
selected this telecommunication 
system as their preferred network.
Tarkwa and Damang in Ghana are 
currently designing their wireless 
backbone. 

•  Operating equipment remotely: 
South Deep established surface 
remote rock breaking as a 
business-as-usual practice. Tele-
remote loading is also evolving into 
a standard operating practice. This 
is positive step in removing people 
from active mining areas and will be 
gradually rolled out at all operations

•  Establishing remote operating 
centres: We are establishing 
integrated operating centres 
at South Deep, Granny Smith, 
Cerro Corona and Salares Norte. 
Importantly, these centres, which 
are located in the office blocks 
at our sites, will enable real-time 
monitoring and control of the 
working environment and thus 
speedier decision-making

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Covid-19 dominated the Group’s 
occupational health and wellness 
efforts in 2020. The pandemic 
challenged our people and our 
business in many ways, and is set to 
continue to do so throughout 2021.

Gold Fields’ workforce may be 
exposed to a range of occupational 
health and wellness risks associated 
with, among others, Silicosis, 
Tuberculosis (TB), Noise-Induced 
Hearing Loss (NIHL) and Diesel 
Particulate Matter (DPM). The extent 
to which our employees are exposed 
to these risks differ from mine to mine 
because of the diverse nature of 
our operations, which includes both 
underground and open-pit mines.

We comply with all occupational 
health regulations and, in countries 
where regulations have not yet been 
promulgated, follow industry best-
practice standards. We are further 
guided by our goal of zero harm, and 
consider the protection of employee 
health and wellness a fundamental 
human right.

Health programmes remain a key 
focus area at South Deep also 
because of the prevalence of many 
chronic diseases due to the relatively 
poor socio-economic conditions in 
South Africa. We are seeking greater 
collaboration on health within Gold 
Fields and, to this end, developed a 
strategic framework for occupational 
health during 2020, which is 
supported by Group guidelines 
that are being rolled out across our 
operations.

COVID-19
The second wave of Covid-19 
infections, which started in late 2020, 
has taken a terrible toll at Gold Fields. 
As at 29 March 2021, 3,127 of our 
employees or contractors tested 
positive for Covid-19, while 10 had 
passed away after being infected with 
the virus. In addition, Galiano Gold, 
our Asanko JV partner, reported one 
death due to Covid-19. 

The large number of positive 
Covid-19 cases reflects the high 
prevalence rate of the pandemic 
in the communities neighbouring 
our operations in Peru, Ghana and 

South Africa. There have been no 
cases to date at our Australian mines.

Since March 2020, a Group Exco-
level Covid-19 crisis management 
team has met regularly to coordinate 
actions and strategies to mitigate 
the impact of the pandemic on 
operations. Throughout the year, we 
focused on supporting our employees 
and contractors, with particular 
attention to their health and wellness. 
The Board’s Risk Committee has 
also held regular meetings to provide 
governance oversight, while regional 
and site-level committees have 
performed similar roles. 

The Group spent approximately 
US$30m on Covid-19-related 
initiatives and interventions, such as 
specialised camp accommodation, 
testing equipment and facilities, 
additional labour costs and transport 
facilities. Where our mines had to 
close down or curtail activities due 
to government-imposed regulations, 
we continued to pay, at a minimum, 
all employees’ monthly base pay. 
Furthermore, no employee was laid 
off except for non-attendance of 
their duties. In South Africa, we also 
continued to pay our contractors and 
small and medium-sized enterprises 
(SME) suppliers during the national 
lockdown. In addition, our operations 
and employees have actively 
supported host communities and 
governments’ efforts to control the 
pandemic and assist people in need. 
These donations totalled over US$3m 
across the Group.

COVID-19 TESTING AND RESULTS AT GOLD FIELDS

Our management teams were able 
to maintain sustainable and profitable 
production while safeguarding the 
health and safety of our employees. 
Key activities to ensure safe 
operations included:
•  Strictly adhering to all government 

regulations and protocols

•  Closing offices, implementing 

remote working arrangements and 
imposing travel restrictions

•  Implementing standard operating 
procedures for those employees 
returning to work

•  Implementing mandatory social 

distancing, sanitisation and mask-
wearing practices

•  Providing counselling and mental 

wellness support initiatives
•  Regularly communicating to 

employees about Covid-19-related 
developments

•  Maintaining a dedicated Covid-19 

information portal

•  Rolling out social media awareness 
and communication campaigns 
for employees, communities and 
others

In all regions where we operate, 
except Australia, our mines have 
facilitated polymerase chain reaction 
(PCR) tests for our employees and 
contractors to enable us to swiftly 
isolate and assist those affected. 
(In Australia, the Covid-19 prevalence 
rates among the population have 
been so low that it has not been 
necessary to supplement government 
testing.)

Number
(positive, recovered)

0
7
2

,

0
1

4
2
7

,

1
1

9
5
4

,

0
1

1
8
1

,

9

6
7
6

,

7

4
8
4

,

7

1
9
1

,

7

8
3
1

,

7

Number
(tested)

12000

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

0

7
0
5

,

5

9
8
0

,

5

5
7
2

,

3

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

2020

2021

(cid:132) Tested (cid:160) Positive (cid:160) Recovered

1000

800

600

400

200

6

0

53

 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

SAFETY AND WELLBEING OF OUR PEOPLE CONTINUED

Covid-19 will undoubtedly continue 
to disrupt our operations and 
people during 2021. Our teams are 
developing strategies to assist our 
employees in dealing with the impacts 
of a prolonged pandemic, particularly 
as it relates to mental wellness. We 
are also working with governments, 
industry forums and advisors on the 
best solution for vaccine roll-outs. 
For more details on how we are 
supporting our employees, see p57. 

DIESEL PARTICULATE MATTER
Employees working with machinery in 
confined underground spaces, as well 
as those operating diesel-powered 
vehicles, are at risk of being exposed 
to DPM.

The South African regulator has not 
yet promulgated an occupational 
exposure limit (OEL) for DPM, 
however, we align with an industry 
limit of 0.16mg/m3. At South Deep, 
measurements are undertaken 
over a time-weighted exposure as 
they impact nearby workers. We 
aim to have 95% of all samples 
measure below 0.16mg/m3 by 2024. 
Pleasingly, DPM levels exceeding this 
limit decreased to 10% in 2020 from 
13% in 2019.

South Deep completed its evaluation 
of DPM filters, which are being 

fitted to those vehicles that emit 
the highest levels of DPM – load 
haul dumpers (LHDs), dump trucks 
and utility vehicles. By year-end, 
the mine had fitted seven LHDs 
with DPM filters, with a further 25 
LHDs and dump trucks scheduled 
for 2021. Furthermore, South Deep 
continuously reviews ventilation 
layouts to ensure optimal dilution in 
all working places. 

In Australia, equipment filtration is a 
key part of our strategy to manage 
DPM in our underground mines. Our 
strategy also requires a number of 
additional controls to be in place, 
including maintenance schedules, 
ventilation requirements, operator 
training, monitoring protocols 
and corrective action processes 
for any exceedances of the OEL. 
Exceedances of the current OEL of 
0.07mg/m3 per 12-hour shift in the 
Australian mines are rare, indicating 
the appropriateness and effectiveness 
of our current strategy.

Open-pit mines in Ghana and Peru 
pose a lower risk to DPM exposure. 
Sampling at these mines shows 
that the effects of DPM exposure to 
personnel is insignificant, though it still 
has an environmental impact.

As part of our drive to improve 
how we manage DPM exposure, 
we are working with the ICMM 
and its member companies on the 
ICSV programme. This initiative 
engages original equipment 
manufacturers (OEMs) to accelerate 
the development of mining vehicles 
that minimise DPM, reduce GHG 
emissions and minimise vehicle 
incidents. For details see page 73.

NOISE-INDUCED HEARING LOSS 
Noise from machinery and equipment 
puts employees at risk of developing 
NIHL. We did not record any cases 
of NIHL in Ghana, Australia or Peru 
during 2020. However, three new 
cases of NIHL were reported at 
South Deep (2019: six), and 1.5% 
(2019: 1.3%) of personal noise 
samples registered above the 
regulated occupational exposure limit 
of 85 dB(A). All new equipment has 
noise emissions below 107dB(A) to 
meet the 2024 industry targets.

To reduce the risk of NIHL, South 
Deep continued its programme of 
providing employees with personally 
moulded hearing protection. All new 
auxiliary fans purchased are sound 
attenuated and we continued to 
retrofit existing fans to ensure fan 

Invincible pit, St Ives, Australia

54

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

noise levels do not exceed 107dB(A). 
We continue to work through the 
Minerals Council of South Africa to 
encourage OEMs to produce quieter 
equipment.

HIV/AIDS
Managing HIV/Aids remains an 
important issue at our South Deep 
mine and, to a lesser extent, our 
Ghanaian operations.

At South Deep, the prevalence 
rate of those living with HIV/Aids 
increased to 17% of the workforce 
(2019: 6%). This increase is mainly 
due to employees and contractors 
self-declaring as part of the screening 
process following the reopening of 
the mine after the national Covid-19 
lockdown during March and April 
2020. Furthermore, the increased 
attention to chronic diseases and 
the risks they pose in combination 
with Covid-19 led to an increase in 
employees disclosing comorbidities. 
Voluntary counselling and testing 
(VCT) is offered to prospective and 
permanent employees, including 
contractors, and 70% of the 
workforce underwent VCT during 
2020. Free highly active anti-retroviral 
therapy (HAART) is provided to HIV-
infected employees, and there are 
currently 657 employees enrolled 
in this programme (2019: 204). Our 
employees’ dependants can also 
receive HAART via the Company’s 
medical aid schemes.

In Ghana, where the national HIV/Aids 
rate is approximately 2%, employees 
and contractors have access to a 
free, confidential VCT programme. 
During 2020, 21% of the workforce 
participated in this programme – 
the low participation was due to 
employee wellbeing resources being 
dedicated to fighting Covid-19. No 
new positive HIV/Aids cases were 
identified among employees. At year-
end, Ghana had 10 employees on 
HAART (2019: 10). 

DUST, SILICOSIS AND TUBERCULOSIS
South Africa’s mining industry 
regulations for silica dust exposure 
require that 95% of all personal silica 
dust samples taken must be below 
a time-weighted exposure of  
0.05mg/m3 by 2024. By the end of 
2020, 13% of the personal silica dust 

samples at South Deep still exceeded 
this level, the same as in 2019. 
Although we saw an improvement 
at the start of 2020, the lockdown 
period caused a deterioration in 
underground conditions, as we 
were unable to maintain and sustain 
engineering controls. Following 
a thorough review, we installed 
automated dust suppression units in 
all high-risk areas. 

During 2020, the number of Silicosis 
cases submitted to the health 
authorities increased to 10 from five 
in 2019. These employees have all 
been working in the mining industry 
between 20 and 40 years. All 
employees diagnosed with Silicosis 
are initiated on a six-month course 
of TB prophylaxis. No South Deep 
employee who joined the mine 
after 2008 and who had not been 
previously exposed to silica dust has 
contracted Silicosis. All employees 
with Silicosis are allocated restricted 
duties to ensure they are not exposed 
to dust. The mine’s medical team 
continues to educate our workforce 
and provide counselling during 
medical reviews and screening.

Since 2014, Gold Fields, along with 
five other companies in South Africa, 
had been involved in negotiations with 
the legal representatives of former 
mineworkers suffering from Silicosis 
and TB in the so-called ‘Silicosis 
class action case’. In May 2018, the 
companies and legal representatives 
reached an historic settlement in this 
matter, whereby the gold companies 
contributed over R5.2bn (US$400m) 
towards a settlement trust fund. 
Gold Fields provided an amount of 
R297m (US$21m) for its share of the 
settlement cost.

The settlement agreement came into 
effect on 10 December 2019, when 
a settlement trust – known as the 
Tshiamiso Trust – was established. 
The Tshiamiso Trust is responsible 
for ensuring that all eligible current 
and former mineworkers across 
southern Africa with Silicosis or 
work-related TB (or their dependants 
where the mineworker has passed 
away) are compensated. Over the 
course of 2020, the Tshiamiso Trust 
endeavoured to create the capacity 
and establish the systems needed to 

begin the execution of its mandate. 
However, the Covid-19 pandemic 
has had a significant impact on its 
work. In December 2020, the trust 
made its first payments of R250,000 
(US$15,000) each to six claimants. 

During 2020, South Deep recorded 
13 employees with cardio-respiratory 
tuberculosis (CRTB), compared 
with 20 in 2019. Three employees 
at South Deep were reported with 
chronic obstructive airways disease 
during 2020 (2019: four).

MENTAL WELLBEING OF EMPLOYEES 
IN AUSTRALIA
Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 
pandemic, along with the remote 
nature of our operations in the 
region, we continued to focus on the 
mental wellbeing of our employees in 
Australia.

The programmes at our four 
Australian mines seek to encourage 
employees to identify and assist 
colleagues who may be at risk of 
mental health challenges. Our efforts 
this year included:
•  Ongoing participation in the national 

“R U OK?” programme, which 
provides practical tools on how to 
start a conversation with those who 
may be struggling mentally

•  The “Mates in Mining” mental health 

and suicide prevention initiative
•  The launch of a mental health 

movement at our Granny Smith 
mine

•  Mental health first aid training 

across all operations, as well as 
the regional executive team. At 
Gruyere, over 20% of employees 
are trained mental health officers

Additional mental health initiatives 
launched across the region include 
monthly on-site professional support, 
psychological fitness-for-work 
assessments, motivational speakers, 
internal training programmes, 
meditation, and additional on-site 
counselling support services. The 
Australian region also includes 
mental health in its business risk 
assessments to ensure adherence 
to controls designed to prevent and 
mitigate associated risks.

We are also strengthening our focus 
on mental health in other regions.

55

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

DEVELOPING A FIT-FOR-PURPOSE WORKFORCE 

OVERVIEW

GOLD FIELDS 2021 BSC KPIs
•  Improve engagement levels of employees
•  Increase the number of women in the workplace
•  Deliver the people scorecard as per the plan

Remote control training room, Tarkwa, Ghana 

2025 ESG CHARTER TARGETS

ASSOCIATED GROUP RISKS

Strategic priority

Strategic intent

Build a diverse and inclusive 
workplace

(cid:96)

Increase the proportion of women in 
our workforce, including women in 
leadership and women in mining in 
all our operating regions

No

1

6

7

12

15

19

Risk
Covid-19
The impact of Covid-19 on our employees, 
communities and business
Mining costs
Rising mining costs, including those relating to ESG
Safety
Safety and health of our employees, including 
occupational illnesses
Skills
Attraction and retention of skills
Ghana contractors
Challenges with local mining contractors in Ghana
I&T
Failure to modernise operations

RELATED SDGs

Good health  
and wellbeing

Decent work and 
economic growth

TRADE-OFFS 
Our trade-offs refer to the difficult decisions made during the year in the context of resource scarcity. Below are some of the 
significant actions taken during a difficult year to do so:

•  Increased investment in training and development to meet our objectives of employing from our host communities and 

targeted population groups

•  Reduced employment levels over time as our mines become increasingly modernised and automated
•  Increased spending to ensure the health and safety of our employees during Covid-19

56

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

OVERVIEW
In a year dominated by the Covid-19 
pandemic, keeping our people safe, 
healthy and productive was our 
driving focus. We also advanced 
our diversity and inclusion strategy, 
implemented new ways of working as 
part of our drive to attract, develop 
and retain top skills, and continued to 
maximise the number of employees 
from our host communities.  

Gold Fields’ workforce of 18,412 
people comprises over two-thirds 
(69%) contractors – significantly 
higher than 2019 as a result of the 
construction of our Salares Norte 
mine in Chile, which is almost 
exclusively carried out by contracted 
firms. Beyond this, the composition of 

the key demographic groups among 
our workforce remained stable during 
2020 when compared with previous 
years. Women make up 20% of our 
total Group workforce and 21% of 
our leadership positions. In total, 
73% of employees in South Africa are 
Historically Disadvantaged Persons 
(HDPs) and just 2.8% of employees at 
our Ghanaian mines are expatriates. 

One of the most significant 
restructuring exercises in Gold Fields 
over the past two years was the 
reduction of South Deep’s workforce 
in 2018 and 2019 following section 
189 retrenchments. This significantly 
changed the workforce profile, and 
South Deep now has a leaner team 
in line with the requirements of a 

WORKFORCE BY GROUP AND REGION (END-DECEMBER)

mechanised mine. Furthermore, as 
we continue to build the required 
skills set for a mechanised mine, there 
has been a marked improvement 
in productivity per employee to 303 
tonnes/employee from 286 tonnes/
employee in 2019.

The Group’s focus on host 
community employment also 
changed our workforce profile, and 
host community members comprise 
53% of our workforce (2019: 55%). 
Importantly, this aligns with our 
strategy of creating value for the 
communities in the regions where we 
operate. More information on host 
community employment is detailed 
on p85 – 86. 

Total 
workforce

2020

4,268

2,998
4,027
7,003

116

18,412

Employees

Contractors

Proportion of 
Nationals1

2020

568

1,668
2,226
1,063

116

5,641

2019

545

1,657
2,310
1,046

97

5,655

2020

3,700

1,330
1,801
5,940

—

2019

2,862

1,266
1,674
6,198

1

12,771

12,001

2020

98%

78%
84%
99%

75%

86%

Americas

Australia
South Africa
West Africa

Corporate

Total

1 Employees only

KEY HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) METRICS (END-DECEMBER)

Category

Total workforce

HDPs employees (%)1
HDPs employees – senior management (%)1
Minimum wage ratio2
Female employees (%)
Ratio of basic salary men to women
Employee wages and benefits (US$m)3
Average training spend per employee (US$)

Employee turnover (%)

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

18,412

17,656

17,611

18,594

18,091

73
51
1.71
20
1.31
412
1,211

6

59
52
1.97
20
1.14
395
1,912

16

72
43
2.40
19
1.25
442
2,469

354

71
57
2.43
16
1.25
506
2,258

6

72
55
1.97
15
1.31
482
1,896

12

1  Excluding foreign nationals but including white females. Percentages are of South African workforce only
2  Entry level wage compared with local minimum wage. This ratio excludes Ghana, as the region only employs management-level employees with the transition 

to contractor mining 

3 This excludes benefits paid to employees working on capital projects

SUPPORTING EMPLOYEES DURING 
COVID-19
The Covid-19 pandemic continued to 
challenge our people and operations, 
and is set to continue doing so 
during 2021. It has taken a terrible 
toll on our employees – as at mid-
March 2021, almost 3,000 of our 

colleagues have tested positive for 
Covid-19, and 10 employees or 
contractors unfortunately passed 
away after contracting the virus. We 
implemented an extensive testing 
programme at all but our Australian 
mines which, to date, have not 
reported a single positive case. 

The high number of cases at our 
operations in South Africa, Peru, 
Chile and Ghana reflects the high 
prevalence rate of Covid-19 in our 
mines’ neighbouring communities. 
We detail the extensive health and 
educational programmes we put 
in place to test, protect and inform 

57

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

DEVELOPING A FIT-FOR-PURPOSE WORKFORCE CONTINUED

our employees, as well as how we 
assisted those employees who did 
contract the virus, on our website at 
www.goldfields.com/covid-19.php. 

During 2020, our operations spent 
approximately US$30m on Covid-19-
related initiatives and interventions, 
such as specialised camp 
accommodation, testing equipment 
and facilities, additional labour costs 
to cover key positions, and transport 
facilities. Critically, Gold Fields paid 
all employees their salaries during 
Covid-19 pandemic. This includes 
employees who were unable to work 
during the various stages of lockdown 
at our Cerro Corona mine in Peru and 
South Deep in South Africa, which 
was completely closed for three 
weeks and only partially opened for 
a further three weeks.

Gold Fields responded quickly to the 
outbreak of Covid-19, closing offices 
and operations and implementing 
strict lockdown protocols in line with 
government-imposed regulations 
in all our jurisdictions. We already 
had a comprehensive Flexible Work 
Policy in place, enabling a relatively 
seamless shift as employees 
transitioned to remote working 
wherever possible. Once restrictions 
eased and employees could return to 
our sites, we ensured they followed 
our strict return-to-work policies and 
procedures, as well as on-site testing, 
social distancing and sanitation 
measures. In Peru and Chile, we 
introduced the concept of “team 
cells”, whereby employees worked 
within dedicated teams to limit their 
contact with other employees. This 
also made contact tracing easier 
in those cases were an employee 
became infected. 

Communication was central to 
keeping employees safe, informed, 
connected and motivated. We set up 
a dedicated public Covid-19 portal 
on our website, which provided a 
central repository for all information 
and communication material. 
Leadership videos and virtual 
communication guides, published in 
multiple languages, helped employees 
to continue work remotely and 
productively. We also enhanced the 
Company’s information technology 
(IT) systems to make remote work 
easier while ensuring we effectively 
managed cybersecurity risks. 

58

The mental health of our employees 
during lockdown and isolation was 
also a key consideration during the 
year. All employees have access to 
free, confidential counselling and 
support services all hours of the day. 
These services provided them with 
additional material on mental health 
issues during lockdown and isolation, 
as well as how to deal with balancing 
the dual demands of family and 
working from home. We augmented 
this messaging by additional mental 
health awareness communication 
distributed to our employees. 

While some employees found remote 
work challenging, others embraced 
it. We updated Gold Fields’ Flexible 
Work Policy during the year to 
prepare the Company for an expected 
increase in flexible work applications. 

Covid-19 will undoubtedly continue 
to disrupt our operations and 
people during 2021. Our teams are 
developing strategies to assist our 
employees in dealing with the impacts 
of a prolonged pandemic, particularly 
as it relates to mental wellness. 

NEW WAYS OF WORKING
Human resources (HR) management 
is a key component of managing 
environmental, social and governance 
(ESG) issues, which have become an 
increasingly critical consideration for 
our stakeholders, including our capital 
providers. As part of developing 
Gold Fields’ nine ESG priorities – to 
be included in our ESG Charter with 
2025 delivery targets, which will be 
made public later in 2021 – three 
relate directly to managing of our 
workforce. These are: 
•  Building a diverse and inclusive 

workplace

•  Adopting new ways of working
•  Enabling cultural transformation

Adopting to new ways of working is 
central to our ability to attract, retain 
and develop the right skills. While 
embracing new technology is an 
important part of this ESG priority, 
it is by no means our only focus 
area. Gold Fields embraces a broad 
definition of modernisation that also 
includes shifts in culture, processes 
and systems. 

Our training and development efforts 
focus on equipping our people with 
the skills required by an evolving 
mechanised, modernised and 
automated mining industry. In 2020, 

we invested US$1,211 per employee 
in training (2019: US$1,912). 
The decrease was the result of fewer 
face-to-face training sessions in light 
of Covid-19 lockdowns and social 
distancing regulations. In response 
to increased virtual working, we 
raised the number of online training 
courses to enable our employees to 
access learning content easily. We 
will continue to enhance this service 
offering in 2021. 

Our leadership competency 
framework forms an important part 
of our talent attraction and leadership 
development strategy. It focuses 
on leadership’s ability to create 
an inclusive and enabling culture, 
demonstrating leadership excellence 
and building a credible brand. 

Our recruitment process relies on 
comprehensive data and analytics, 
and utilises systems to track the time 
it takes to fill critical roles. Critical role 
turnover for the Group was 2.4% 
against a target of 5%. Attracting 
the next generation of workers to 
the mining industry is a key focus, 
and we therefore continue to track 
the age profile of our workforce. 
Competitive benefits, flexible work 
arrangements and opportunities for 
growth, development and mentorship 
are, inter alia, aimed at attracting a 
younger skills set. 

At the moment, only 29% of our 
people are younger than 35. We see 
this changing as we modernise our 
operations. 

We continued to move HR processes 
to digital platforms that allow for 
employee self-service, enhanced 
mobile systems for engagement 
and performance management, and 
e-learning and big data analytics to 
track people-related metrics.

ENHANCING ORGANISATIONAL 
CULTURE
Our ESG priority to enable culture 
transformation requires extensive 
employee engagement to ensure we 
build a culture of trust and leadership, 
while identifying what needs to change. 
We have completed around 80% of 
the programmes we initiated following 
employee climate surveys conducted 
in 2018 and 2019. These include 
initiatives to improve communications, 
learning and development, creating an 
enabling environment and recognition 
of employees.

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

On the back of these programmes, 
the Company conducted several 
pulse surveys and focus groups 
to determine the efficacy of the 
plans we are implementing, and to 
gauge whether we improved the 
scores of previously low-ranking 
areas. These areas were leadership, 
communication, recognition, and 
learning and development. The 
outcome showed that engagement 
levels have improved over the past 
year. Employees also responded 
positively to Gold Fields’ prioritisation 
of the safety and wellbeing of its 
people during the current Covid-19 
pandemic.

BUILDING A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE 
WORKFORCE
Our diversity and inclusion strategy 
includes three areas of focus – 
workforce diversity, workplace 
inclusion, and sustainability and 
accountability – and presents a 
roadmap for how we can achieve 
our business and people goals over 
a five-year period. 

In setting targets for diversity and 
inclusion, Gold Fields focused on 
representation across all aspects 
of the employee lifecycle, including 
attraction, development, promotion 
and attrition. In doing this – as 
opposed to setting blanket targets 
across the business – we can ensure 
we identify our diversity gaps at 
a more comprehensive level. This 
allows us to target actions specifically 
at those areas and employee lifecycle 
points where we need to improve.  

We have developed a diversity and 
inclusion dashboard that captures 
and measures all aspects of 
representation across the employee 
lifecycle, including:
•  Diversity workforce profile
•  Retention
•  Talent management
•  Inclusive mindset (cultural aspects 
that foster a diverse and inclusive 
workplace)

The dashboard seeks to encourage 
diversity and inclusivity beyond a 
focus on gender targets. We believe 
this is a more comprehensive 
approach towards achieving 
a workforce that reflects the 
demographics of the countries in 
which we operate, while at the same 
time addressing the skills needs of 
modern, automated gold mines.

We will continue to focus on 
increasing female representation 
during 2021. This decision is based 
primarily on the fact that we have 
sufficient baseline data in this area to 
accurately identify where we need to 
focus our attention, and to measure 
performance over time. In the year 
ahead, we will develop sufficient 
baseline data for diversity workforce 
profile, retention, talent management 
and inclusive mindset. 

All our regions have been tasked 
with comprehensively reviewing and 
setting targets for:
•  Percentage of our workforce 

classified as women

•  Percentage of women in leadership 

roles (D-band and above)

•  Percentage of women in core 

mining roles

Importantly, these targets will be used 
to determine long-term incentive 
awards. 

Across our global workforce, 20% of 
Gold Fields’ employees are women 
(2019: 20%). Some 54% work in 
core mining activities, while 21% hold 
management positions (2019: 20%). 
The ratio of basic salary for men to 
women is 1.31 (2019: 1.14). Three 
out of our eight Board members are 
women, including the Chairperson. 
The turnover of women during the 
year was 22%, compared with the 
male turnover rate of 78%, both 
unchanged from 2019. 

Gold Fields was also included in 
the Bloomberg Gender-Equality 
Index (GEI) for the third year in a 
row – achieving an average score of 
69%, which exceeded the general 
66% average achieved across other 
companies included in the index. We 
were one of 380 companies across 
11 sectors included in the 2021 GEI. 
We believe that being included in this 
index reflects the appropriateness 
of our measures to, among others, 
promote female leadership, cultivate 
an inclusive culture and ensure 
gender pay parity, as well as our 
commitment to disclosure on these 
issues.

ORGANISED LABOUR
We remain committed to engaging 
with our workforce on all material 
issues that affect them. We uphold 
employees’ rights to freedom of 
association and collective bargaining, 

and ensure that our contractors also 
abide by these standards.

Union membership among our 
employees is 73% at South Deep, 
and 0% in Ghana due to our transition 
to contractor mining at Tarkwa 
and Damang. Contractor union 
membership in Ghana is estimated to 
be 6%. In Australia, an estimated 3% 
of employees belong to unions, while 
in Peru 25% of our direct workforce 
and 29% of contractor workforce 
are unionised. In Chile, 9% of our 
workforce is unionised.

While union relationships have 
historically been strained at South 
Deep, we continue to foster a 
positive working relationship with 
union leaders and members since 
the completion of the section 189 
retrenchment process in 2018. This is 
particularly evident in our joint efforts 
to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 
on our workforce.

REMUNERATION POLICY
Our remuneration structures are 
designed to stimulate and incentivise 
high performance through market-
related base pay and benefits, 
attractive performance-driven 
incentives, as well as recognition 
and retention programmes. The core 
objective of our Remuneration Policy 
is to attract, retain and motivate top 
talent to deliver superior results. 

The Company is acutely aware of 
the global concern around excessive 
executive remuneration, fair and 
responsible remuneration between 
management and junior-level 
employees, as well as pay disparities 
between genders. We believe that 
our approach to short and long-term 
remuneration is substantively fair and 
consistently applied throughout the 
Group.

Gold Fields’ Remuneration 
Policy drives and incentivises the 
achievement of our strategy, and 
continuously supports the creation 
of stakeholder value by aligning 
performance with commensurate 
levels of reward. In this way, we align 
stakeholder interests.

  For details of our Remuneration Policy and 
2020 remuneration and incentive payments 
to executives and directors, refer to our 
Remuneration Report on p26 – 54 of our 
2020 Annual Financial Report (AFR), which 
can be accessed at https://www.goldfields.
com/integrated-annual-reports.php

59

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

CREATING A GLOBAL, SUSTAINABLE PORTFOLIO

OVERVIEW

GOLD FIELDS 2021 BSC KPIs
•  Improve the strategic planning process
•  Future strategy decision with regard to the investment in Asanko to be made by August 2021
•  Improve our process as it relates to allocating and managing capital
•  Advance Salares Norte Project
•  Improve South Deep people and processes 

Processing plant at Gruyere, Australia

ASSOCIATED GROUP RISKS

No

Risk

3

4

5

South Deep
Loss of investor confidence due to non-achievement of the 
mine’s business plan

Resource nationalism
Resource nationalism, regulatory uncertainty and government 
imposts

Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves
Replacing Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves 
in Australia, Ghana, Peru and Chile

6

16

18

19

Mining costs
Rising mining costs, including those relating to ESG

Chile
Delays and cost overrun relating to the Salares Norte project

Infrastructure
Ageing infrastructure

I&T
Failure to modernise operations

RELATED SDGs

Decent work and 
economic growth

Industrial innovation 
and infrastructure

TRADE-OFFS
Our trade-offs refer to the difficult decisions made during the year in the context of resource scarcity. Below are some of the 
significant actions taken during a difficult year to do so:

•  Continued investment in near-mine exploration required to ensure life-of-mine extension at our operations
•  Investments in less-risky geographies precludes Gold Fields from accessing potentially rich ore bodies in other countries
•  Focus on sustainable and organic growth without the need of expensive corporate activity, in particular mergers and 

acquisitions

60

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

OVERVIEW
Despite the elevated gold price and 
buoyant gold market in 2020, we 
maintained our focus on delivering 
on the recent investments we made 
into our portfolio and, ultimately, 
increasing free cash-flow (FCF) per 
ounce of gold produced. Over the 
years, the Group has built a high 
quality, global production base by 
specifically focusing on low-cost, 
longer-life assets in a limited number 
of mining-friendly jurisdictions. 

The Company employed various 
elements to refine our production 
base into one that will maintain 
production of 2.0Moz – 2.5Moz per 
year for the next 10 years at costs 
that are competitive with or lower 
than our global peers. Our approach 
to mergers and acquisitions focuses 
on acquiring or developing lower-
cost (than Group average), longer-life 
assets and disposing of higher-cost, 
shorter-life assets that management 
believes can be better served by 
a company with more time and 
resources to commit. We continue to 
invest significant funds in near-mine 
brownfields exploration to extend 
the life of our current asset base and 
capitalise on in-country opportunities 
to leverage off our existing footprint, 
infrastructure and skills set.

Our overriding strategic objective is 
to generate an FCF margin of 15% 
at a gold price of US$1,300/oz. This 
is the principal criteria that drives our 
portfolio management process, and 
we will only invest in new assets if we 
meet this hurdle. In addition, we focus 
strongly on improving the longevity of 
our production base, and therefore 
endeavour to allocate our capital to 
projects or organic opportunities that 
will ultimately increase the life-of-
mine across the Group. To this end, 
over the past three to four years, 
Gold Fields significantly invested 
in developing Gruyere in Western 
Australia and the major cutback of 
the Damang pit in Ghana. We will 
continue to invest heavily throughout 
2021, with US$508m budgeted for 
the development of Salares Norte in 
Chile, which will materially improve 
Group AIC and extend mine life when 
it comes into production in 2023.

Gold Fields remains committed 
to its strategy of generating cash 

to pay dividends to shareholders, 
reduce debt and share the value 
we create with our employees, 
host communities, governments 
and capital providers. Our capital 
allocation priorities will remain largely 
unchanged in 2021, namely:
•  De-gearing the balance sheet 
•  Funding the Salares Norte capital 

expenditure (capex)

•  Maintain our policy of paying 

dividends between 25% – 35% 
of normalised earnings 

•  Increasing capex to sustain 

production at some of our key 
assets

GROWING OUR GLOBAL FOOTPRINT
Over the years, Gold Fields 
has established an attractive, 
geographically diversified portfolio 
with nine mines and one project in five 
countries. While our strategy targeted 
expansion outside of South Africa 
since the unbundling of our legacy, 
conventional  mines to Sibanye Gold 
in 2013, we remained very selective 
in choosing the countries in which 
to invest. 

The Group continued to enhance 
its global footprint during 2020 by 
advancing the Salares Norte project 
in Chile to construction, with first 
production expected in Q1 2023. 
This project will add 450koz of gold-
equivalent production per annum once 
it achieves steady state. Importantly, 
this production will come online at 
extremely competitive costs, further 
enhancing the quality of our portfolio. 

With 20.5Moz of attributable 
gold-equivalent Mineral Reserves 
(excluding Asanko) being outside 
South Africa at 31 December 2020, 
our mines in Australia, Chile, Ghana 
and Peru are well positioned to 
produce 2Moz – 2.5Moz per year for 
eight to 10 years.  

Encouragingly, the performance 
of our South Deep mine in South 
Africa continued to improve in 2020, 
despite the impacts of the Covid-19 
pandemic and the government-
imposed shutdowns during Q2 
2020 – which effectively lost the mine 
52 days of production. The mine 
took advantage of higher gold prices 
to generate R558m (US$34m) in 
net cash-flow even with Rand gold 
hedges that capped the upside at an 
average price of R727,000/kg.

DAMANG  
INTO THE HEART OF THE ORE BODY
Gold Fields reinvested almost 
US$370m in our Damang mine in 
Ghana over the past four years to 
extend the life-of-mine to 2025. 
The Damang Reinvestment project 
commenced in December 2016 and 
entailed a major cutback to both 
the eastern and western walls of the 
Damang pit.

Since commencement, the project 
has steadily outperformed plan, 
with the Amoanda pit providing a 
high-grade source of ore during 
early production years. At the end 
of December 2020, 48 months into 
the project, total material mined 
amounted to 149Mt, 14% ahead of 
the project schedule. Gold produced 
for the same period amounted to 
756koz, exceeding the planned 
647koz by 17%. Total project capital 
incurred as at 31 December 2020 
was US$367m versus a budgeted 
US$345m, largely driven by the 
additional capital waste tonnes 
mined.

Project capex continued to decrease 
in 2020 with the bulk of the capital 
incurred during the first three years 
of the project. Non-sustaining capex 
decreased to US$6m in 2020 from 
US$71m in 2019, US$125m in 2018 
and US$117m in 2017, in line with 
the project schedule.

From a production perspective, 2020 
was a year of two halves. During H1 
2020, production was impacted by 
lower grades as mining transitioned 
through the Huni sandstone lithology, 
which exhibited more variable grades 
than anticipated. The bulk of the Huni 
sandstones were mined out by mid-
year, at which point mining activities 
moved into the higher grade (and 
more consistent mineralised) Tarkwa 
phyllites deeper in the Damang pit. 
As a result, both production and 
costs improved markedly during 
H2 2020. We expect this trend to 
continue over the next three years.

Encouragingly, Damang generated net 
cash-flow of US$66m in 2020 after 
turning net cash-flow positive in 2019 
(generating US$24m) for the first time 
since the start of the Reinvestment 
project. The mine is expected to 
produce 275koz in 2021 at AISC 

61

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

CREATING A GLOBAL, SUSTAINABLE PORTFOLIO CONTINUED

of US$730/oz and AIC of US$790/
oz. It is anticipated that Damang will 
maintain similar production levels 
with healthy cash-flows over the next 
three years to 2023, at which point 
production begins to tail off. As such, 
the team has commenced studies on 
a further pit cutback, which has the 
potential to extend the life-of-mine 
beyond 2025 by a further four years. 

SALARES NORTE  
PROGRESSING TO PLAN
The Salares Norte project is a 100% 
Gold Fields-owned, gold-silver 
deposit. It is located between 3,900m 
and 4,700m above sea level in the 
municipality of Diego de Almagro 
in the Atacama region of northern 
Chile. Mineralisation is contained 
within a high-sulphidation epithermal 
system, offering high-grade oxides. 
The project is currently in its 
construction phase, and is expected 
to meaningfully change the future 
profile of Gold Fields by accelerating 
growth in production and reducing 
Group AIC.

Land easement for the project was 
granted for 30 years on 30 May 
2016. We obtained water rights in 
December 2016, with the regulator 
granting Gold Fields access to 
more than double the amount of 
water that the project requires. The 
Atacama Environmental Assessment 
Commission approved Salares 
Norte’s Environmental Impact 
Assessment (EIA) on 18 December 
2019. As a result, an updated 
feasibility study (FS) was presented 
to the Board in February 2020, 
which subsequently approved the 
construction and development of 
the project.

The estimated project capex of 
US$860m (in 2020 terms), to be 
spent over the 33-month construction 
period, will be funded from a 
combination of the US$250m equity 
raised in February 2020, the strong 
operational cash generation of the 
Group and existing debt facilities, if 
required. First production is planned 
for Q1 2023, with life-of-mine 
production of 3.7Moz gold-equivalent 
over an 11.5-year period. Average 
annual production is forecast to be 
450koz gold-equivalent for the first 
seven years, decreasing to 355koz 

62

gold-equivalent for the next three 
years. AISC over the life-of-mine is 
anticipated to amount to US$552 per 
gold-equivalent ounce. 

Construction activities were relatively 
unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic 
during 2020, and the project remains 
on schedule. US$151m was spent 
on Salares Norte in 2020, including 
exploration and project expenses of 
US$30m,  initial capex of US$97m 
and prepayments accounting for 
the majority of the balance. At the 
end of December 2020, engineering 
progress was 97% complete, 
construction progress 16% complete 
and total project progress 27%, all 
ahead of plan. The mining contractor 
began pioneering works on 
1 October, as planned. Pre-stripping 
of the pit and construction of the 
processing plant commenced during 
January 2021, in line with the project’s 
construction schedule. At the end 
of December, 87% of the project’s 
scope of work had been committed 
to and priced, including 99% of plant 
and infrastructure orders and 95% of 
contracts, significantly reducing the 
risk of price escalations.

In addition to the Agua Amarga and 
Brecha Principal ore bodies, which 
will be mined over the initial 10-year 
period, there is significant exploration 
potential within the surrounding area. 
Salares Norte controls 84,000ha of 
mineral rights in the Salares Norte 
district and has carried out extensive 
district-wide exploration within a 
20km radius of the plant site. During 
2020, a total of 17,504m were drilled, 
focusing on the Horizonte Project, 
while additional work was done at 
the Agua Amarga North and Brecha 
West targets near the Salares Norte 
pit. We will continue to invest in 
exploration within the area to add to 
the production pipeline from 2025 
onwards.

While there are no indigenous claims 
or community presence on the 
concession or the dedicated access 
routes, Salares Norte embarked on 
an extensive engagement programme 
with three indigenous communities 
within its wider vicinity and entered 
into long-term agreements with 
them. The project’s principal area 
of social influence – and potential 

labour-sending area – is the 
Diego de Almagro municipality, 
approximately 125km away. 

A critical element of the EIA approval 
was the relocation of endangered 
Short-tailed Chinchilla in the area. 
This work, which is carried out by 
independent environmental experts, is 
ongoing and we are in close contact 
with the regulator on the relocation 
programme. For details see p98.

SOUTH DEEP 
CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT
South Deep continued to show 
operational improvements in 2020 
despite the impacts of the Covid-19 
pandemic, which included a 
government-imposed shutdown. 
In compliance with country-wide 
restrictions, we placed South Deep 
on care and maintenance during 
April 2020. While the mine operated 
well below its full labour complement 
for the remainder of the quarter, the 
workforce gradually ramped up to its 
full complement towards the end of 
Q3 2020. 

Despite this interruption, South 
Deep continued to improve in most 
production metrics during 2020 
as a result of several initiatives 
we implemented following the 
restructuring at the end of 2018, 
including: 
•  Purposeful Visible Felt Leadership 
•  Reinvigorating our leadership 

system

•  Improving face time and increasing 

the effectiveness thereof

•  Enabling logistics 
•  Implementing innovation and 

technology

The Siyaphambili intervention, 
a management and leadership 
programme focusing on the capacity 
and capability of our front-line 
supervisors and middle managers, 
continued to bear fruit during 2020. 
As a result, we reached the following 
key mining achievements during 
2020:  
•  Destress square metres mined 
increased by 34% to 35,545m² 
in 2020 from 26,606m² in 2019. 
Longhole stoping volumes mined 
increased by 11% to 697,501 
tonnes in 2020 (2019: 631,281 
tonnes) as a result of improved 
stope availability, equipment 

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

productivity and increased stope 
extraction quality. Encouragingly, 
stoping compliance to plan 
increased to an average of 90% 
in 2020 from 79% in 2019

•  After placing a record 426,338m3 

of backfill in 2019, a total of 
322,823m3 was placed in 2020 
as the backlog was eroded. 
With this, we further improved 
stope turnaround time to an 
average of 4.8 months in 2020 
from 5.5 months in 2019 and 
7.8 months in 2018

•  The mine’s overall productivity 
improved to 303 tonnes per 
employee costed (TEC) in 2020 
from 286 tonnes per TEC in 2019. 

STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS
Over the years, Gold Fields has 
acquired strategic interests in a 
number of smaller mining companies. 
Taking advantage of favourable equity 
market conditions, we have steadily 
reduced these non-core equity 
holdings over the past two years. 
In 2019, we raised US$179m through 
these sales, with the proceeds 
being used to pay down a portion 
of our debt. In 2020, we sold our 
16.4% stake in ASX-listed Cardinal 
Resources, which holds exploration 
rights in northern Ghana, to Nordgold 
for A$37m (US$23m). 

Machine productivity decreased 
slightly to 72m/rig in 2020 from 
78m/rig in 2019, but is still up from 
59m/rig in 2018

The key improvements in production 
efficiencies over the past three years 
are depicted in the table below.

Activity

2020

2019

2018

Development 
(m/rig)

De-stress  
(m/rig)

Longhole 
stoping (t/rig)

72

72

78

40

40

23

12,968 11,966

6,708

Despite the impacts of Covid-19, 
South Deep’s gold production 
increased by 2% to 7,056kg 
(226.9koz) in 2020 from 6,907kg 
(222.1koz) in 2019. Encouragingly, 
the mine generated net cash of 
US$34m in 2020, which was more 
than double the US$15m generated 
during 2019. For 2021, we expect a 
strong increase in production (+28%) 
to 290koz. Furthermore, we are 
reasonably confident that we can 
increase production volumes between 
15% – 20% over the next three to 
four years.

Gold Fields acquired a strategic 17% 
shareholding in Chakana Copper in 
2019 for C$8m (US$6m). In February 
2021, we participated in a rights offer 
that increased our holding to 19.9% 
for an additional C$3m (US$2m). 
Chakana Copper is currently 
advancing the prospective Soledad 
gold-silver project in central Peru. 

Our current strategic shareholdings 
are shown in the table below.

GOLD FIELDS’ NON-CORE INVESTMENTS (31 DECEMBER 2020)

Investment

Galiano Gold (formerly Asanko Gold)

Rusoro Mining

Chakana Copper1

Magamatic Resources

Lefroy Exploration

Orsu Metals

Woodjam Copper

Maverix Metals warrants

Total value 

Shareholding
% 

Market value 
(US$m)

9.8

25.7

16.8

10.9

18.0

6.1

16.3

25

4

7

3

4

1

3

13

60

1  This shareholding was increased to 19.9% in February 2021 

FAR SOUTHEAST 
There were no material developments 
relating to the Far Southeast (FSE) 
project in the Philippines during 
2020. The project is held by Far 
Southeast Gold Resources, in which 
Gold Fields has a 40% interest with 
an option to increase its stake to 
60%, and is adjacent to an existing 
mining operation with established 
infrastructure. Lepanto Consolidated 
Mining Company of the Philippines 
holds the remaining 60% interest 
and manages the existing mining 
operation. 

FSE’s mining licence was up for 
renewal for 25 years in 2015. The 
Philippine government ruled that Free 
Prior and Informed Consent was 
required for the renewal, however, this 
requirement was overturned during 
independent arbitration and, in 2018, 
by the country’s Court of Appeals. 
The government is appealing that 
ruling in the Supreme Court, where 
the case is currently pending.

Gold Fields reversed previous 
impairments of its investment in 
FSE, resulting in a carrying value of 
US$144m at end-2020, based on 
the fair value less cost of disposal of 
the investment, which was indirectly 
derived from Lepanto’s market value 
on the Philippine Stock Exchange. 
Gold Fields’ holding costs in FSE 
are approximately US$0.1m, related 
mainly to staff and administrative 
costs, managing existing drill core, 
environmental monitoring, community 
relations work, as well as activities to 
support the permitting process.

63

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

CREATING A GLOBAL, SUSTAINABLE PORTFOLIO CONTINUED

LIFE EXTENSION THROUGH NEAR-
MINE EXPLORATION 
Near-mine (brownfields) exploration is 
key to Gold Fields’ strategy as it offers 
one of the lowest-cost opportunities 
for adding ounces and growing cash-
flow, particularly on a per share basis. 
The value in near-mine exploration 
lies in:
•  Knowledge of the ore bodies, which 
enables our exploration teams to 
identify extensions or additional ore 
sources housed within the mining 
tenement 

•  Operational capabilities, including 

Gold Fields’ proven ability to 
develop and mine orogenic ore 
bodies

•  Regional and operational 

infrastructure, including existing 
processing plants and regional 
management teams

We believe that brownfields 
exploration provides a robust platform 
for regional growth. In addition 
to growing Gold Fields’ Mineral 
Resource and Mineral Reserve base, 
near-mine exploration also extends 
the life of the Group’s existing assets 
and ensures that each region can 
continue leveraging its infrastructure.

In 2020, Gold Fields spent US$76m 
on near-mine exploration (2019: 
US$73m), which supported a total 
of 367,600m of near-mine drilling 

(2019: 428,980m). We incurred the 
majority of this spending – US$50m 
(A$72m) (2019: US$58m (A$84m)) 
– at our Australian mines. We spent 
US$6m in Ghana, which is lower 
than the US$13m spent in 2019. 
Amid a renewed focus on extending 
Tarkwa’s life-of-mine, and further 
resource definition drilling at the 
Damang cutback project we have 
budgeted US$9m for the region 
(excluding Asanko) in 2021. Asanko 
is scheduled to spend US$5m on 
exploration in 2021.  

Looking ahead, we have budgeted 
US$101m for near-mine exploration 
during 2021 (excluding Asanko), of 
which US$63m (A$84m) will be at 
our Australian operations, US$9m at 
Tarkwa and Damang, and US$27m 
at Salares Norte. 

Following are details of the near-mine 
exploration activities at our Australian 
and Ghanaian mines during 2020. 
South Deep and Cerro Corona do 
not undertake exploration on their 
properties.

ST IVES
At St Ives, total 2020 exploration 
spend amounted to US$24m. A total 
of 130,625m were drilled during the 
year, increasing Mineral Resources by 
13% to 5.0Moz and Mineral Reserves 
by 17% to 2.7Moz, net of depletion. 

Key outcomes:
•  17% increase in Mineral Reserves
•  13% increase in Mineral Resources
•  Extended Invincible complex both 

laterally and at depth

ST IVES MINERAL RESERVES 
RECONCILIATON Gold (Moz)

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

9
7
0

.

)

0
4
0

.

(

8
2

.

2

7
6

.

2

Mineral
reserves
2019

Mined
depletion
2020

Growth
2020

Mineral
reserves
2020

AGNEW
We spent US$14m on exploration 
at Agnew during 2020, with a total 
of 59,967m drilled during the year. 
Encouragingly, Agnew managed 
to replace Mineral Reserves after 
depletion again. Mineral Resources 
increased by 26% to 3.2Moz, while 
Mineral Reserves increased by 19% 
to 917koz. Agnew is now in the 
strongest position it has been since 
December 2013.

Neptune pit, St Ives, Australia

64

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

The enhanced focus on exploration 
over the past few years is starting to 
yield extremely encouraging results, 
and Agnew’s outlook is increasingly 
positive. The Waroonga North ore 
body continued to grow laterally and 
at depth during 2020. Additional 
Mineral Resources were also declared 
at Redeemer Zone 2, which declared 
its maiden Mineral Reserve in 2019. 
We are also seeing further extensions 
of Genesis and Sheba at New 
Holland.

Key outcomes:
•  19% increase in Mineral Reserves
•  26% increase in Mineral Resources
•  Additional Mineral Resources 
declared at Redeemer Zone 2
•  Waroonga North growing laterally 

and at depth

AGNEW MINERAL RESERVES 
RECONCILIATON Gold (Moz)

9
3
.
0

)

5
2
.
0

(

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

GRANNY SMITH MINERAL RESERVES 
RECONCILIATON Gold (Moz)

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

)

9
2

.

0

(

8
3

.

0

8
0
2

.

7
1
2

.

Mineral
reserves
2019

Mined
depletion
2020

Growth
2020

Mineral
reserves
2020

GRUYERE JV
Gold Fields’ exploration allocation to 
the Gruyere JV amounted to US$1m 
in 2020, with a total of 14,221m 
drilled during the year. Gold Fields’ 
50% share of the Mineral Resources 
increased nominally by 1% to 46koz, 
while total allocated Mineral Reserves 
decreased by 3% post-depletion 
to 1.7Moz. 

Key outcomes:
•  3.2% decrease in Mineral Reserves
•  1.4% decrease in open-pit Mineral 

Resources

7
7
.
0

2
9
.
0

GRUYERE MINERAL RESERVES 
RECONCILIATON (Moz – 100% basis)

Mineral
reserves
2019

Mined
depletion
2020

Growth
2020

Mineral
reserves
2020

GRANNY SMITH
Total exploration spend at Granny 
Smith amounted to US$11m in 
2020, with a total of 71,748m drilled 
during the year. Mineral Resources 
decreased nominally by 375koz 
(4.5%), while Mineral Reserves 
increased by 4.3% post-depletion 
to 2.2Moz. 

Key outcomes:
•  4.3% increase in Mineral Reserves
•  4.5% decrease in Mineral 

Resources

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

)

8
2
.
0

(

7
1
.
0

9
5
.
3

8
4
.
3

Mineral
reserves
2019

Mined
depletion
2020

Growth
2020

Mineral
reserves
2020

TARKWA
Gold Fields spent US$6m in near-
mine exploration at Tarkwa during the 
year, drilling 27,969m. Encouragingly, 
and continuing a trend from 2019, 
Tarkwa again replaced depletion in 
2020. Tarkwa’s Mineral Reserves 

increased by 3% to 6.1Moz while 
Mineral Resources declined by 2% 
to 10.6Moz. 

Key outcomes:
•  3% increase in Mineral Reserves
•  2% decrease in Mineral Resources 

TARKWA MINERAL RESERVES 
RECONCILIATON (Moz)

7.0

6.0

5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0

)

4
5
0

.

(

4
7
0

.

9
8
.
5

0
1
.
6

Mineral
reserves
2019

Mined
depletion
2020

Growth
2020

Mineral
reserves
2020

DAMANG
While we focused on implementing 
the Damang Reinvestment project, 
Gold Fields also spent US$0.4m in 
near-mine exploration at Damang 
during the year. A total of 357m were 
drilled. Despite the exploration effort, 
Mineral Resources decreased by 4% 
to 5.7Moz and Mineral Reserves by 
24% to 1.0Moz, net of depletion.

Key outcomes:
•  24% decrease in Mineral Reserves
•  4% decrease in Mineral Resources

DAMANG MINERAL RESERVES 
RECONCILIATON (Moz)

1,6

1,4

1,2

1,0

0,8

0,6

0,4

0,2

0,0

)

3
2
.
0

(

)

9
0
.
0

(

5
3
.
1

3
0
.
1

Mineral
reserves
2019

Mined
depletion
2020

Growth
2020

Mineral
reserves
2020

65

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

CREATING A GLOBAL, SUSTAINABLE PORTFOLIO CONTINUED

MINERAL RESOURCES AND MINERAL 
RESERVES SUMMARY
The management of the Company’s 
Mineral Resources and Mineral 
Reserves is central to delivering on its 
strategic goals and key performance 
targets. The Group continued with 
its strategy of focusing on near-mine 
exploration to extend mine life during 
the year. The multi-year investment in 
exploration has delivered one of the 
best operational Mineral Reserves 
replacement years for Gold Fields 
during 2020 on the back of an equally 
good performance in 2019. 

The emphasis at all mine sites is 
to drive the Mineral Resources to 
Mineral Reserves conversion, strive 
for Mineral Reserves growth that 
replaces annual depletion, improve 
cash-flow and cost per ounce, and to 
deliver on the strategic opportunities 
to extend the life-of-mines.

2020 PERFORMANCE
The Covid-19 pandemic affected 
the Mineral Resource and Mineral 
Reserve reporting cycle. Nevertheless, 
the regions were able to complete the 
drilling, resource modelling, technical 
studies and life-of-mine planning as 
scheduled. In 2020, both Mineral 
Resources and Mineral Reserves 
increased post annual depletion, 
which continues a consistent 
multi-year performance. Since the 
December 2015 declaration, the 
Group has replaced 11.5Moz in 
depleted Mineral Reserves and added 
a further 4.5Moz through successful 
exploration activities, technical studies 
and project investment, equating to a 
9% growth in Mineral Reserves over 
this period, net of annual depletions.

The Group-managed gold Mineral 
Resource, including Far Southeast in 
the Philippines, is 124.1Moz (2019: 
123.4Moz) and the gold-managed 
Mineral Reserve is 54.3Moz (2019: 
53.2Moz) for operating mines and the 
Salares Norte project, but excluding 
the Asanko JV in the 2020 number. 

The Group-managed Mineral 
Resource, including Far Southeast, 
and reporting all metal as gold 
equivalent ounces, is 149.1Moz 
(2019: 148.7Moz) and the Mineral 
Reserve is 56.1Moz (2019: 55.2Moz). 
The attributable gold Mineral 
Resource for operating mines and 
Salares Norte, but excluding both 
Asanko and Far Southeast, has 
increased year-on-year by circa 1% 
to 96.7Moz (2019: 96.1Moz). The 
attributable gold Mineral Reserve 
reflects a 2.0% increase to 50.3Moz 
(2019: 49.3Moz), both net of 2.2Moz 
annual production depletion during 
2020.

Notable Mineral Resource highlights 
during 2020 were increases of 26% 
at Agnew, 13% at St Ives and 4% at 
South Deep, net of annual depletion. 
Mineral Reserve highlights includes 
increases of 19% at Agnew, 17% at 
St Ives, 6% at South Deep, 4% at 
Granny Smith and 3% at Tarkwa, also 
net of annual depletion. This reflects 
the largest Mineral Reserve at St 
Ives since 2011, the largest Mineral 
Reserve at Agnew since 2014, 
and the second consecutive year 
Tarkwa fully replaced Mineral Reserve 
depletion in the last six years.

The gold price used for the 2020 
estimates increased to US$1,500/oz  

(2019: US$1,400/oz) for Mineral 
Resources and to US$1,300/oz 
(2019: US$1,200/oz) for Mineral 
Reserves, and are aligned to the 
long-term market consensus 
forecast and prices used by peer 
group companies. Copper and silver 
prices used for the estimates were 
unchanged year-on-year at  
US$3.2/lb and US$20/oz, 
respectively, for Mineral Resources 
and US$2.8/lb and US$17.5/oz, 
respectively, for Mineral Reserves.   

GOVERNANCE
The consolidated summary of Gold 
Fields’ Mineral Resources and 
Mineral Reserves in this section 
should be read in conjunction with 
the Gold Fields Mineral Resource and 
Mineral Reserve Supplement (the 
Supplement), which can be found on 
our website at www.goldfields.com/
integrated-annual-reports.php. The 
Supplement sets out important and 
detailed technical information on the 
Company’s Mineral Resources and 
Mineral Reserves as at 31 December 
2020. It is prepared in line with the 
South African Code for the Reporting 
of Exploration Results, Mineral 
Resources and Mineral Reserves, 
2016 edition (SAMREC Code) and 
other leading standards as well as 
stock exchange regulations.

The Mineral Resource and Mineral 
Reserve statements have been 
reviewed and approved by the Group 
Competent Person, Tim Rowland, 
who is a member of Gold Fields’ 
Corporate Technical Services team. 

Agnew, Australia

66

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

MINERAL RESOURCES AND MINERAL RESERVES ESTIMATES

Mineral Resources (100%)

Mineral Reserves (100%)

31 Dec 2020

Tonnes
(Mt)

Grade
(g/t)

Gold
(koz)

Dec 2019
Gold
(koz)

31 Dec 2020

Tonnes
(Mt)

Grade
(g/t)

Gold
(koz)

Dec 2019
Gold
(koz)

2020

Attributable

Resource
(koz)

Reserve
(koz)

Gold (Au)

Australia region

Agnew

Gruyere (50%)

Granny Smith

St Ives

Total Australia region

South Africa region

South Deep

Total South Africa region

Americas region

Cerro Corona

Salares Norte

Total Americas region

West Africa region

Damang

Asanko (50%)

Tarkwa

Total West Africa region

18,6

77,9

45,0

41,7

183,1

382,5

382,5

104,8

25,6

130,4

83,1

–

297,0

380,1

5,31

1,34

5,49

3,70

3,30

5,10

5,10

0,56

4,76

1,38

2,13

–

1,11

1,34

3,01

3,178

3,356

7,936

4,964

2,521

3,309

8,310

4,403

19,433

18,544

5,3

43,4

12,6

25,5

86,8

62,684

62,684

60,130

60,130

205,7

205,7

1,890

3,913

5,803

5,693

–

10,640

16,333

2,213

3,913

6,126

5,918

1,931

10,913

18,762

104,254

103,562

67,0

21,1

88,1

21,2

–

197,7

218,8

599,4

–

5,39

1,24

5,34

3,25

2,68

5,27

5,27

0,64

5,13

1,71

1,52

–

0,96

1,01

2,82

–

0,917

1,738

2,167

2,665

7,487

0,772

1,795

2,078

2,283

6,928

3,178

3,356

7,936

4,964

19,433

0,917

1,738

2,167

2,665

7,487

34,834

34,834

32,817

32,817

56,753

56,753

31,538

31,538

1,368

3,476

4,844

1,031

–

6,095

7,127

54,292

50,276

1,553

3,476

5,029

1,349

1,189

5,894

8,432

53,207

49,302

1,881

3,913

5,794

1,362

3,476

4,838

5,124

0,928

–

9,576

14,700

–

5,486

6,414

96,680

50,276

Total Gold Managed

1 076,1

Total Gold attributable

–

–

96,680

96,080

Copper (Cu)

Cerro Corona

Silver (Ag)

Tonnes

Grade

Copper

Copper

Tonnes

Grade

Copper

Copper

Resource

Reserve

(Mt)

(% Cu)

104,3

0,35

(Mlb)

812

(Mlb)

886

(Mt)

67,0

(% Cu)

0,38

(Mlb)

565

(Mlb)

619

(Mlb)

809

(Mlb)

563

Tonnes

Grade

Silver

Silver

Tonnes

Grade

Silver

Silver

Resource

Reserve

Salares Norte

Total Gold-eq (koz)

(Mt)

25,6

–

(g/t)

(koz)

(koz)

53,14

43,662

43,662

–

149,100

148,700

(Mt)

21,1

–

(g/t)

57,94

–

(koz)

(koz)

(koz)

(koz)

39,263

56,100

39,263

43,662

55,200

116,000

39,263

52,100

67

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

PROFITABLE PRODUCTION AND  
SUSTAINABLE CASH-FLOW 

OVERVIEW

GOLD FIELDS 2021 BSC KPIs
•  Increase FCF per ounce at a set gold price
•  Eliminate fatalities, serious injuries and environmental incidents in our business
•  Improve innovation and technology
•  Improve South Deep people and processes
•  Future strategy decision with regard to Asanko to be made by August 2021

Tarkwa, Ghana

ASSOCIATED GROUP RISKS

No

Risk

1

2

3

6

7

8

Covid-19
The impact of Covid-19 on our employees, communities and 
business plan

Gold/foreign exchange
Gold price and currency exchange rate volatility

South Deep
Loss of investor confidence due to non-achievement of the 
mine’s business plan

Mining costs
Rising mining costs, including those relating to ESG

Safety
Safety and health of our employees, including occupational 
illnesses

Energy
Security of power supply and cost of energy

13

14

15

16

18

19

Water
Water pollution, security and reduction in freshwater 
consumption

Geotechnical
Increased geotechnical risk underground and in open pits

Ghana contractors
Challenges with local mining contractors in Ghana

Chile
Delays and cost overrun relating to the Salares Norte project

Infrastructure
Ageing infrastructure

I&T
Failure to modernise operations

RELATED SDGs

Decent work and 
economic growth

Industrial innovation 
and infrastructure

TRADE-OFFS 
Our trade-offs refer to the difficult decisions made during the year in the context of resource scarcity. Below are some of the 
significant actions taken during a difficult year to do so: 
•  We will not mine if we cannot mine safely, which means that occasionally we do not mine profitable ore bodies
•  Setting conservative gold prices for planning purposes restricts the scope of our operations
•  Benefits of higher gold prices on our operations are, in part, offset by rising mining costs
•  Increased investment in modernisation and automation will lead to declining employee numbers
•  Ensuring the sustainability of South Deep requires constant focus on workforce optimisation

68

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

OVERVIEW
The gold mining industry was uniquely 
challenged during 2020. As the 
Covid-19 pandemic swept across the 
globe, we had to adapt and enforce 
substantial changes to our operating 
protocols. Spearheaded by our 
regional leadership teams, Gold Fields 
responded swiftly in establishing the 
necessary protocols, procedures and 
practices to mitigate the impacts of 
Covid-19 and keep our people safe. 
Strict adherence to government 
protocols and rigorous Covid-19 
testing of all site-based employees 
were swiftly rolled out across the 
Group.  

In Australia, we adjusted rosters and 
amended flight schedules to limit 
travel and reduce interaction between 
employees. At Cerro Corona in Peru, 
we initially extended shift cycles in 
response to a nationwide curfew, 
while also constructing additional 
accommodation facilities to enable 
social distancing.  

Our Cerro Corona and South Deep 
operations were the most impacted 
by the pandemic during 2020. 
In compliance with the government-
imposed lockdown towards the end 
of March, we placed South Deep on 
care and maintenance for the first 
four weeks of Q2 2020. At the end 
of April, as South Africa eased the 
lockdown restrictions, South Deep 
could resume mining activities, albeit 
at 50% of its full labour complement. 
This continued until the end of May, 
when our workforce gradually ramped 
up to its full complement. In all, South 
Deep lost approximately 52 days of 
operation.

In Peru, a curfew was imposed on 
16 March, which entailed strict intra-
provincial and international travel 
restrictions. Mining was declared an 

GROUP OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

essential industry, and Cerro Corona 
could continue to operate largely 
as normal until mid-April, when the 
mine was restricted to 30% of its 
workforce. The labour complement 
gradually increased from the end of 
April and was back at full capacity 
during October 2020. Lost production 
from Covid-19-related stoppages and 
restrictions during 2020 amounted to 
approximately 32koz at South Deep 
and 46koz at Cerro Corona. For 
more information on the impacts of 
Covid-19, refer to p57 and p87.

The combination of our strong 
operational performance and the 
higher gold price during the year 
enabled the Group to contain the 
impacts of Covid-19 and post a solid 
set of results in 2020, comfortably 
meeting our underlying goal of 
generating a FCF margin of 15% 
at a gold price of US$1,300/oz.

Despite the Covid-19 restrictions, 
Gold Fields’ attributable gold-
equivalent production increased by 
2% to 2.236Moz in 2020 (2019: 
2.195Moz), within revised guidance 
of 2.200Moz – 2.250Moz. We revised 
original guidance of 2.275Moz – 
2.315Moz in April 2020 to account 
for the impact of Covid-19 on our 
operations – particularly South Deep 
and Cerro Corona.

Group AIC increased marginally 
in 2020 to US$1,079/oz (2019: 
US$1,064/oz), which was within 
revised guidance of US$1,070/
oz – US$1,090/oz. The year-on-year 
increase in AIC was driven by higher 
cost of sales before amortisation and 
depreciation, higher sustaining capex 
and higher royalties, partially offset 
by higher level of gold sold and lower 
non-sustaining capex. Group AISC for 
the year totalled US$977/oz (2019: 
US$897/oz), again within revised 

guidance of US$960/oz – US$980/
oz. Covid-19-related costs amounted 
to US$26m in 2020, equal of US$12/
oz, and are included in Group AIC 
and AISC.

During 2020, Gold Fields maintained 
the capex levels we believe are 
important to ensure the longevity of 
our portfolio. Total capex (excluding 
Asanko) decreased to US$584m 
in 2020 from US$613m in 2019. 
This comprised sustaining capex 
of US$409m and project capex of 
US$175m. 

Regional capex included:
•  Americas: At Cerro Corona, capex 
decreased by 11% to US$50m in 
2020 from US$56m in 2019, mainly 
due to the impact of Covid-19 
restrictions on construction 
activities. We spent capex of 
US$97m on Salares Norte during 
2020, as capitalisation of project 
spend began on 1 April 2020
•  Australia: Our Australian mines 
decreased capex to A$319m 
(US$220m) in 2020 from A$458m 
(US$319m) in 2019, with near-mine 
exploration amounting to A$72m 
(US$50m) in 2020 (2019: A$84m 
(US$58m))

•  South Africa: As previously 

guided, total capex at South 
Deep increased by 68% year-
on-year to R804m (US$49m) in 
2020 from R479m (US$33m) in 
2019. This increase was driven by 
the purchase of new equipment 
and the recommencement of 
development in the new mine area
•  West Africa: Total capex (excluding 
Asanko) decreased to US$167m 
in 2020 from US$202m in 2019, 
driven by a decrease in waste 
tonnes mined at Damang

2021 Guidance

2020 Actual

2020 Guidance (revised)

2019 Actual

Prod 

AIC 

Prod 

AIC 

Prod 

AIC 

Prod 

AIC 

Group

2.30Moz – 
2.35Moz

US$1,310/oz – 
US$1,350/oz

2.24Moz US$1,079/oz

2.20Moz – 
2.25Moz

US$1,070/oz – 
US$1,090/oz

2.20Moz US$1,064/oz

69

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

PROFITABLE PRODUCTION AND SUSTAINABLE CASH-FLOW 

CONTINUED

REGIONAL PERFORMANCES 
SOUTH AFRICA REGION

2021 Guidance

2020 Actual

2020 Guidance 

2019 Actual

Prod

AIC 

Prod

AIC 

Prod1 

AIC 

Prod 

AIC 

South Deep 9,000kg 
(289koz)

R660,000/kg
(US$1,320/oz)

7,056kg
(227koz)

R663,635/kg
(US$1,260/oz)

7,000
(225koz)

R610,000/kg 
(US$1,394/oz)

6,907kg 
(222koz)

R585,482/kg 
(US$1,259/oz)

1  Original guidance revised to take account of Covid-19 lockdown

of 7,000kg (225koz). Had it not been 
for disruptions relating to Covid-19, 
South Deep would have exceeded 
its original production guidance of 
8,000kg (257koz). It is estimated that 
South Deep lost approximately 32koz 
due to Covid-19-related stoppages 
in 2020, which was partially offset 
by 10 additional production days as 
a result of the change in production 
calendar.

AISC increased by 11% to R651,514/
kg (US$1,237/oz) in 2020 from 
R585,482/kg (US$1,259/oz) the 
previous year, while AIC increased 
by 13% to R663,635/kg (US$1,260/
oz) from R585,482/kg (US$1,259/
oz) due to higher cost of sales before 

amortisation and depreciation, as well 
as higher capex, which was partially 
offset by higher gold sold.

Encouragingly, South Deep generated 
net cash-flow of R558m (US$34m) in 
2020, more than double the R221m 
(US$15m) recorded in 2019.

2021 guidance:
•  Gold production: 9,000kg (289koz)
•  Destress: 48,370m2
•  Development: 9,067m
•  Capex: R1,234m (US$79m), 
of which R889m (US$57m) is 
sustaining capex and R345m 
(US$22m) is growth capex

•  AISC: R620,000/kg (US$1,240/oz)
•  AIC: R660,000/kg (US$1,320/oz)

2021  

Guidance

2020 
Actual

2020  

Guidance

130koz

24.7kt

220koz

119koz

24.9kt

207koz

158koz

27.5kt

275koz

2019 
Actual

156koz

31kt

293koz

US$1,060/oz

US$715/oz

US$575/oz

US$472/oz

US$1,190/oz US$1,119/oz

US$830/oz

US$810/oz

Consequently, total AIC on a gold-
equivalent basis increased by 38% 
to US$1,119/oz from US$810/oz in 
2019. This increase was primarily due 
to the lower equivalent ounces sold 
and additional Covid-19 related 
expenditure, partially offset by lower 
cost of sales before amortisation 
and depreciation and lower capital 
expenditure.

Despite the Covid-19 challenges, the 
region reported net cash-inflow of 
US$84m during 2020, in line with the 
US$86m generated in 2019.

2021 guidance:
•  Gold only production: 130koz
•  Copper production: 24.7kt
•  Gold-equivalent production: 220koz
•  Capex: US$58m
•  AISC (Au-eq): US$1,030/oz
•  AIC (Au-eq): US$1,190/oz
•  AISC: US$780/oz
•  AIC: US$1,060/oz

Details of the construction progress 
of our Salares Norte project are on 
p62.

After a good start to 2020, South 
Deep was placed on care and 
maintenance for the first four weeks 
of Q2 2020 in compliance with 
government-imposed Covid-19 
restrictions. South Deep operated 
well below its full labour complement 
for the remainder of Q2 2020. Our 
workforce gradually ramped up to its 
full complement during Q3 2020 and 
early Q4 2020. As such, most of the 
impact of Covid-19 was felt during 
H1 2020, with the mine recovering 
well in H2 2020.

Gold production increased by 2% 
to 7,056kg (227koz) from 6,907kg 
(222koz) in 2019, which was 
marginally ahead of revised guidance 

AMERICAS REGION

Production overview

Gold-only production

Copper production

Gold-equivalent production

AIC

AIC eq-oz

From a production perspective, our 
Cerro Corona mine in Peru was 
the most impacted by Covid-19 
across the Group. Gold-equivalent 
production decreased by 29% to 
207koz in 2020 from 293koz in 
2019, due to lower copper grades 
processed, together with a lower 
price factor. The price factor was 
3.5 in 2020 compared with 4.4 in 
2019. It is estimated that Cerro 
Corona lost approximately 46koz 
due to Covid-19-related stoppages 
and 22koz due to the lower price 
factor, partially offset by 10 additional 
production days as a result of the 
change in the production calendar 
in 2020. 

70

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

AUSTRALIA REGION

2021 Guidance

2020 Actual

2020 Guidance 

2019 Actual

Prod 

AIC 

Prod 

AIC 

Prod 

AIC 

Prod

AIC

St Ives

360koz

Agnew

240koz

Granny Smith

265koz

Gruyere (50%)

140koz

Region

1,005koz

A$1,410/oz 
(US$1,060/oz)

A$1,625/oz
(US$1,220/oz)

A$1,600/oz
(US$1,200/oz)

A$1,330/oz 
(US$1,000/oz)

A$1,500/oz 
(US$1,125/oz)

385koz

233koz

270koz

129koz

1,017koz

A$1,266/oz
(US$873/oz)

A$1,528/oz
(US$1,053/oz)

A$1,465/oz
(US$1,010/oz)

A$1,350/oz
(US$931/oz)

A$1,388/oz
(US$957)

360koz

225koz

265koz

135koz

985koz

A$1,320/oz 
(US$910/oz)

A$1,440/oz 
(US$995/oz)

A$1,415/oz 
(US$975/oz)

A$1,150/oz 
(US$795/oz)

A$1,350/oz 
(US$932/oz)

371koz

219koz

275koz

A$1,385/oz 
(US$963/oz)

A$1,656/oz 
(US$1,152/oz)

A$1,325/oz 
(US$922)

50koz

A$4,170/oz 
(US$2,900/oz)

914koz

A$1,418/oz 
(US$986/oz)

Gold Fields’ Australian operations 
delivered another strong operational 
performance in 2020, surpassing the 
1Moz annual production level for the 
first time since 2015. Gold production 
increased by 11% to 1,017koz in 
2020 from 914koz in 2019, with 
Gruyere contributing for the full year 
in 2020. AIC decreased by 2% to 
A$1,388/oz (US$957/oz) in 2020 from 
A$1,418/oz (US$986/oz) in 2019, but 
was slightly higher than guidance of 
A$1,350/oz (US$932/oz).

Capex decreased by 30% to A$319m 
(US$220m) in 2020 from A$458m 
(US$319m) in 2019, due to reduced 
spending on Gruyere, a decrease 
in development at the Invincible 
and Hamlet North underground 
operations at St Ives, and the high 
level of expenditure on the new 
accommodation village at Agnew 
in 2019. Capex includes near-mine 
exploration expenditure of A$72m 
(US$50m), lower than the A$84m 
(US$58m) spent in 2019.

The Australia region reported net 
cash-inflow of A$723m (US$498m) 
in 2020 compared with A$199m 
(US$139m) in 2019.

MINE PERFORMANCES
At St Ives, Invincible Underground, 
Hamlet Underground and the 
Neptune open pit are now the main 
sources of ore. Production increased 
by 4% to 385koz in 2020 from 
371koz in 2019, 7% above guidance 
of 360koz. AIC decreased by 9% 
to A$1,266/oz (US$873/oz) in 2020 
from A$1,385/oz (US$963/oz) in 
2019, mainly due to lower capex 

and increased gold sold, partially 
offset by higher cost of sales before 
amortisation and depreciation and 
higher royalty tax.

Capex decreased by 25% to A$107m 
(US$74m) in 2020 from A$141m 
(US$98m) in 2019 due to reduced 
development of the Invincible South 
and Hamlet North underground mines 
during 2020.

St Ives generated net cash-flow of 
A$383m (US$264m) (pre-tax) for 
the year.

A review of the mine’s brownfields 
exploration activity in 2020 is on p64.

2021 guidance:
•  Gold production: 360koz
•  Capex: A$129m (US$97m), of 
which A$110m (US$83m) is 
sustaining capex and A$19m 
(US$14m) non-sustaining capex
•  AISC: A$1,360/oz (US$1,020/oz)
•  AIC: A$1,410/oz (US$1,060/oz)

At Agnew, gold production increased 
by 6% to 233koz in 2020 from 
219koz in 2019 – 4% higher than 
guidance of 225koz. AIC decreased 
by 9% to A$1,528/oz (US$1,053/oz) 
in 2020 from A$1,656/oz (US$1,152/
oz) in 2019 due to lower capex and 
increased gold sold, partially offset 
by increased cost of sales before 
amortisation and depreciation and 
higher royalty tax.

Capex decreased by 31% to 
A$75m (US$52m) in 2020 (2019: 
A$109m (US$76m)) driven by a 79% 
decrease in non-sustaining capex 
to A$12m (US$9m) in 2020 from 
A$58m (US$41m) in 2019. Additional 

capex of A$32m (US$22m) was 
incurred in 2019 to establish the new 
accommodation village, together with 
A$5m (US$3m) on the development 
of the Waroonga North decline. 
In addition, spending on exploration 
drilling reduced by A$6m (US$4m) 
from 2019. 

We concluded the second stage of 
the electricity supply project, with EDL 
commissioning the 13MW battery 
plant in March 2020 and the 18MW 
wind farm in May 2020. More than 
50% of Agnew’s energy needs are 
now generated from renewable and 
low-carbon sources. The microgrid 
consists of a 23MW power station 
which integrates solar with gas, 
diesel generation, a new battery plant 
and the wind farm. It is owned and 
operated by EDL, who will recoup its 
investment via an electricity supply 
agreement with Agnew. 

Agnew generated net cash-flow of 
A$192m (US$132m) (pre-tax) in 2020 
compared with A$16m (US$11m) 
in 2019.

A review of the mine’s brownfields 
exploration activity in 2020 is on p64.

2021 guidance:
•  Gold production: 240koz
•  Capex: A$113m (US$85m), 

of which A$72m (US$54m) is 
sustaining capex and A$41m 
(US$31m) non-sustaining capex
•  AISC: A$1,450/oz (US$1,090/oz) 
•  AIC: A$1,625/oz (US$1,220/oz)

71

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

PROFITABLE PRODUCTION AND SUSTAINABLE CASH-FLOW 

CONTINUED

At Granny Smith, production 
decreased by 2% to 270koz in 2020 
from 275koz in 2019, but was 2% 
ahead of guidance for the year of 
265koz.

AIC increased by 11% to A$1,465/
oz (US$1,010/oz) in 2020 from 
A$1,325/oz (US$922/oz) in 2019. 
With the mining of deeper ore zones, 
we incurred additional cost relating 
to paste fill, support and hauling. 
Furthermore, we incurred additional 
contractor labour costs, as well as 
employee flight and accommodation 
costs, during 2020 due to Covid-19-
related restrictions. Royalty tax was 
also higher than 2019 as a result of 
the higher gold price received.

Capex decreased by 7% to A$96m 
(US$66m) in 2020 from A$104m 
(US$72m) in 2019 due to decreased 
exploration drilling costs during 
the year. The mine generated net 
cash-flow of A$224m (US$155m) 
(pre-tax) in 2020 compared with 
A$134m (US$93m) in 2019.

WEST AFRICA REGION

A review of the mine’s brownfields 
exploration activity in 2019 is on p65.

2021 guidance:
•  Gold production: 265koz
•  Capex: A$147m (US$110m), 

of which A$116m (US$87m) is 
sustaining capex and A$31m 
(US$23m) non-sustaining capex
•  AISC: A$1,475/oz (US$1,110/oz)
•  AIC: A$1,600/oz (US$1,200/oz)

At Gruyere, gold production 
increased by 161% to 258koz in 
2020, the mine’s first full year of 
production, from 99koz in 2019. 
Gruyere commenced production 
in June 2019 and achieved 
commercial production at the end 
of September 2019.

AIC decreased by 68% to A$1,350/
oz (US$931/oz) in 2020 from 
A$4,170/oz (US$2,900/oz) in 2019. 
AIC for 2019 included construction 
capital up to the point of commercial 
production. 

Capex (on a 50% basis) decreased 
by 61% to A$41m (US$28m) in 2020 
from A$104m (US$72m) in 2019. The 
2019 capex was primarily incurred to 
complete the Gruyere construction 
project and stripping activities at the 
Gruyere pit.

Gruyere generated net cash-flow 
(on a 50%-basis) of A$110m 
(US$76m) (pre-tax) in 2020 compared 
with a cash-outflow of A$80m 
(US$55m) in 2019.

2021 guidance (50% basis):
•  Gold production: 280koz 

(100% basis)

•  Capex: A$57m (US$43m), of which 

A$54m (US$41m) is sustaining 
capex and A$3m (US$2m) non-
sustaining capex

•  AISC: A$1,310/oz (US$985/oz)
•  AIC: A$1,330/oz (US$1,000/oz)

2021 Guidance

2020 Actual

2020 Guidance 

2019 Actual

Prod 

AIC 

Prod 

AIC 

Prod 

AIC 

Prod 

AIC 

Tarkwa

Damang

Asanko¹

Region

510koz US$1,075/oz

526koz US$1,017/oz

510koz

US$970/oz

519koz

US$958/oz

275koz

US$790/oz

223koz US$1,035/oz

215koz US$1,030/oz

208koz US$1,147/oz

106koz US$1,400/oz

112koz US$1,316/oz

115koz US$1,130/oz

113koz US$1,214/oz

891koz US$1,025/oz

862koz US$1,060/oz

840koz US$1,006/oz

840koz US$1,039/oz

¹ 45% stake, equity-accounted

The Ghanaian region is the second 
biggest producer in the Gold 
Fields portfolio. Gold Fields has a 
shareholding of 90% in both Tarkwa 
and Damang, with the Ghanaian 
government holding the remaining 
10%. We hold a 45% stake in 
Asanko, with our JV partner Galiano 
Gold, which manages the project, 
holding 45% and the Ghanaian 
government the remaining 10%.

Total gold production for the region 
increased by 3% to 862koz in 2020, 
being 3% higher than guidance of 
840koz. The increase in output was 
driven by the continued build-up in 
production at Damang, with the mine 
having a much-improved H2 2020 as 
it moved into the heart of the main 

72

ore body. Total attributable production 
increased to 787koz in 2020 from 
768koz in 2019. 

Capex decreased to US$167m in 
2020 from US$202m in 2019, mainly 
due to lower expenditure on capital 
waste stripping at Damang. AIC for 
the region was US$1,060/oz in 2020, 
2% higher than the US$1,039/oz 
reported in 2019.

The region reported a material 
increase in net cash-flow in 2020 to 
US$252m (2019: US$174m). Gold 
Fields received US$38m on the 
redemption of preference shares from 
Asanko in 2020, which would have 
increased the total cash-flow for the 
region to US$290m.

MINE PERFORMANCES
Tarkwa’s production increased by 
1% to 526koz in 2020 (2019: 519koz) 
and was slightly ahead of guidance of 
510koz.

AISC and AIC increased by 6% to 
US$1,017/oz in 2020 from US$958/
oz in 2019, and were slightly higher 
than guidance of US$970/oz. The 
increase in costs was driven by 
increased royalties on the back of the 
higher gold price received, together 
with increased capex.

Tarkwa generated net cash-inflow of 
US$186m during 2020.

A review of the mine’s brownfields 
exploration activity in 2020 is on p65.

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

MODERNISATION AT GOLD FIELDS
Gold companies with maturing mines 
face rising costs, dropping grades 
and remote ore bodies. One way 
of addressing these challenges is 
through modernisation, which can 
deliver a safer working environment, 
improve efficiencies and production, 
reduce costs and limit their 
environmental impact. Ultimately, the 
ideal end state is a decarbonised, fully 
electric, sustainable mine, embracing 
innovative technology and providing 
a safe working environment for all.

Gold Fields modernisation plan 
stretches across three horizons:
•  Horizon 1 (H1) – The foundational 
phase to visualise the operations 
through real time data, and using 
these business insights to plan the 
approach for Horizon 2 

•  Horizon 2 (H2) – The transformational 

phase to integrate and optimise 
processes and systems over a three 
to seven-year period

•  Horizon 3 (H3) – The Gold Fields 
Mine of the Future, delivering the 
future state of Gold Fields

Significant progress has been made 
in H1, with some operations already 
having transitioned to H2. Some of 
the modernisation initiatives deployed 
include: 
•  Major advancements in digital 

infrastructure at our mines. This is 
key as it provides the backbone 
required to run the technology for 
other modernisation programmes

•  3D visualisation to measure key 
aspects of the production value 
stream 

•  Improved two-way communication 

underground, which enhances safety 
and improves health response times
•  Mobile devices that provide real-time 
information to inform better business 
decisions 

•  Open-pit drone technology 
to monitor blast locations

•  Remote controlled equipment, 
which allows operators to work 
safely away from active mining areas 

•  Wind and solar power that have 
already helped to reduce energy 
costs and our environmental impact

In working with our peers in the ICMM, 
we have also developed a Cleaner, 
Safer, Vehicles (CSV) roadmap for 
underground and open pit operations, 
each with context-specific projects 
within the three horizons. The 
introduction of CSVs will mean step 
changes for the safety and health of 
our workforce and the environmental 
impacts our operations have.

Modernisation extends beyond 
technology, however. Perhaps most 
importantly it will mean introducing 
a diversity of new skills, specialists 
and technical role to our Company, 
reskilling and upskilling people to 
adapt in an agile environment and 
improving performance management 
systems. Central to our people-focused 
modernisation plan is the development 
of a culture of diversity and agility to 
ready us for the new world of work. 

2021 guidance:
•  Gold production: 510koz
•  Capex: US$174m
•  AISC/AIC: US$1,075/oz

Damang produced 223koz in 2020, 
which is 7% higher than the 208koz 
produced in 2019 and 4% above 
guidance of 215koz. Damang had 
a year of two halves as the mine 
continued to transition through the 
Huni sandstone lithology during H1 
2020, which exhibited more variable 
grades than anticipated. H2 2020 
was much stronger as mining moved 
into the higher grade Tarkwa phyllites 
in the base of the pit. 

AISC increased by 25% to  
US$1,008/oz in 2020 from  
US$809/oz in 2019 due to higher 
cost of sales before amortisation 
and depreciation, as well as higher 
royalties on the back of the elevated 
gold price.

AIC decreased by 10% to  
US$1,035/oz in 2020 from 
US$1,147/oz in 2019 due to higher 
gold sold and lower non-sustaining 
capex, which decreased by 91% to 
US$6m in 2020 (2019: US$71m).

Damang recorded net cash-inflow 
of US$66m in 2020 compared with 
US$24m in 2019. 

A review of the mine’s brownfields 
exploration activity in 2020 is on p65.

2021 guidance:
•  Gold production: 275koz
•  Capex: US$23m (sustaining capital: 
US$13m; project capital: US$10m)

•  AISC: US$730/oz
•  AIC: US$790/oz

Asanko produced 250koz in 2020, 
of which 113koz was attributable to 
Gold Fields, which is in line with 2019. 
AISC remained flat at US$1,114/oz in 
2020 (2019: US$1,112/oz), while AIC 
increased 8% to US$1,316/oz in 2020 
from US$1,214/oz in 2019. 

2021 guidance:
•  Gold production: 235koz
•  AISC: US$1,235/oz
•  AIC: US$1,400/oz

Mapping out underground automation at Granny Smith, Australia.

73

Gold Fields Integrated 
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2020

CAPITAL ALLOCATION AND SOUND  
BALANCE SHEET MANAGEMENT

OVERVIEW

The gold room at Gruyere

GOLD FIELDS 2021 BSC KPIs
•  Improve total shareholder return (TSR) through increased share price and dividend payouts
•  Reduce debt to improve TSR, reduce risk and create financial flexibility
•  Increase FCF per ounce at a set gold price
•  Improve rate of return on capital invested
•  Improve our process as it relates to allocating and managing capital

ASSOCIATED GROUP RISKS

No

Risk

2

6

Gold/foreign exchange
Gold price and currency exchange rate volatility

Mining costs
Rising mining costs, including those relating to ESG

RELATED SDG

Industrial 
innovation and 
infrastructure

TRADE-OFFS 
Our trade-offs refer to the difficult decisions made during the year in the context of resource scarcity. Below are some of the 
significant actions taken during a difficult year to do so: 

•  Priority for capital allocation is given to debt reduction and shareholder payments before considering capital investments in 

our operations

•  The finite nature of our mines requires consistent investment into the portfolio
•  Even if gold prices are at high levels, hedging is only considered during periods of significant expenditure or servicing high 

debt levels

74

Gold Fields Integrated 
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2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

OVERVIEW
Given the cyclical nature of the 
gold industry, along with the lack of 
control we have over key revenue 
and cost drivers – such as the gold 
price, currencies and the oil price – 
Gold Fields has adopted a prudent 
approach to managing its balance 
sheet. Historically our target level for 
the net debt:EBITDA ratio has been 
around 1x. However, we have been 
opportunistically reducing our debt 
given the higher gold price of late and 
could well be at or close to net zero 
within 18 months.

Gold Fields’ business strategy focuses 
on growing margin and FCF through 
the cycle, with our overriding aim of 
generating a FCF margin of at least 
15% at a gold price of US$1,300/oz.  
In 2020, Gold Fields generated a FCF 
margin of 28% at an average gold 
price of US$1,771/oz, compared with 
21% in 2019 and an average gold 
price of US$1,399/oz, and 16% in 
2018 with an average gold price of 
US$1,266/oz. When converted to a 
price of US$1,300/oz, our FCF margin 
in 2020 would have been 27%.

However, given the finite nature of our 
assets, reinvestment into the portfolio 
is essential and the business has had 
to endure periods of increased capex. 
This was the case from 2017 to 2019, 
when the Group spent approximately 
US$1bn on building two new mines 
(Gruyere and Damang), buying into 
two new JVs (Gruyere and Asanko), 
and continuing to advance the 
Salares Norte project in Chile. Despite 
this increased capex, relatively strong 
gold prices enabled us to limit the 
increase in the Group’s net debt and 
ensure that we meet our target FCF 
margin. The 2021 financial year will 
again see a significant investment 
into the Group’s portfolio by 
developing the Salares Norte project 
in Chile, which will cost US$860m to 
construct.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
Despite the impact of the Covid-19 
pandemic on our operations, the 
significant increase in the gold price 
provided a welcome tailwind to Gold 
Fields’ financial results in 2020. The 
average gold price received increased 
across all relevant currencies during 
2020, with the US Dollar gold price up 

by 27% to US$1,768/oz, (taking into 
account the realised revenue hedge 
losses, the actual realised gold price 
was US$1,581/oz), the Australian 
Dollar gold price up by 27% to 
A$2,551/oz, and the average Rand 
gold price up by 41% to R928,707/
kg. With production levels stable, 
the higher gold price resulted in a 
31% increase in Group revenue to 
US$3.89bn in 2020 from US$2.97bn 
in 2019.

During 2020, the Group decided 
to align the production month-end 
with the calendar month-end, which 
resulted in a once-off additional 
10 production days in H1 2020. These 
added production days resulted in 
an extra 45koz in output, which was 
offset by lost production from Covid-
19-related stoppages of c.78koz 
(32koz at South Deep and 46koz 
at Cerro Corona) during the year.

Cost of sales before amortisation 
and depreciation increased by 5% to 
US$1.49bn in 2020, while AIC and 
AISC were slightly above 2019 levels 
and in line with revised guidance. AIC 
of US$1,079/oz was marginally higher 
than the US$1,064/oz recorded 
in 2019, with US$12/oz relating to 
specific Covid-19-related costs and 
US$12/oz to higher royalties on the 
back of the increased gold price. 
AISC came in at US$977/oz in 2020 
compared with US$897/oz in 2019, 
and was within the revised guidance 
range of US$960/oz – US$980/oz.

Other salient features during 2020 
included the following:
•  Royalty expenses increased 

by 42% to US$105m 

•  The Group’s taxation charge 
increased to US$433m from 
US$176m in 2019, with normal 
taxation increasing to US$367m 
(2019: US$191m) in line with the 
higher profit before tax

•  Total capex of US$584m was 

slightly lower than the US$613m 
spent during 2019

•  Losses from financial instruments 
amounted to US$239m (2019: 
US$238m), largely due to losses 
on our gold hedges

Taking the above into account, 
earnings for 2020 totalled US$723m 
compared with US$162m in 2019, 
while normalised earnings more 

than doubled to US$879m (2019: 
US$343m).

We provide a detailed analysis of 
our financial performance in the 
management’s discussion and 
analysis of the Group’s Annual 
Financial Statements on p55 – 128 
of the 2020 AFR. The consolidated 
income statement, statement of 
financial position and cash-flow 
statement – extracted from the 2020 
AFR – can be found on p78 – 80.

CAPITAL ALLOCATION AND 
MANAGING DEBT
Gold Fields’ capital allocation priorities 
during 2020 were to pay down a 
significant portion of debt while 
continuing to invest the necessary 
sustaining capex into our asset base 
and honouring our Dividend Policy. 
At the beginning of the year, we 
set a target of paying down up to 
US$400m of the Company’s debt 
and reducing our net debt:EBITDA 
ratio to below 1.0x by the end of 
December 2020. We met this target, 
with the Group reducing its net debt 
by US$595m to US$1,069m and 
achieving a net debt:EBITDA ratio 
of 0.56x (under the new IFRS 16 
definition). This compares with 
net debt of US$1,664m and a net 
debt:EBITDA ratio of 1.29x as at 
31 December 2019. Excluding lease 
liabilities, core net debt amounted to 
US$640m at the end of 2020.

Throughout the cycle, Gold Fields 
has maintained the capex levels 
we believe are essential to ensure 
the longevity of our portfolio. Group 
capex amounted to US$584m in 
2020 compared with US$613m in 
2019, comprising sustaining capex 
of US$409m (2019: US$323m) and 
growth capex of US$175m (2019: 
US$290m). 

Looking ahead, our 2021 capital 
allocation priorities will again be 
informed by our strategy to improve 
the quality of our asset base and 
extend the life-of-mine of our 
portfolio while balancing returns 
to shareholders. As such, we will 
allocate the FCF we generate to:
•  Paying down more debt and 

strengthening the balance sheet: 
Although the Group significantly 
decreased its net debt and net 
debt:EBITDA ratio during 2020, 

75

Gold Fields Integrated 
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2020

CAPITAL ALLOCATION AND SOUND BALANCE SHEET 
MANAGEMENT CONTINUED

management believes that 
decreasing our debt levels even 
further would be favourable to 
the Group

•  Funding the Salares Norte project: 

Construction of Salares Norte 
began in earnest in December 
2020, with US$508m budgeted 
for the project for 2021. Based 
on our internal planning prices, 
management believes that we will 
likely be able to fund a large portion 
of this capital from cash generated 
by our operations

•  Returning dividends to 

shareholders: Gold Fields has a 
long and well-established policy 
of paying out between 25% and 
35% of normalised earnings to 
shareholders as dividends. During 
2020, Gold Fields declared a total 
dividend of R4.80/share, which 
translates to 30% of normalised 
earnings for the year – in line with 
the average pay-out over the 
past 10 years. We will continue to 
honour this policy in 2021

We budgeted total capital of 
US$1,177m for 2021, comprising 
sustaining capital of US$538m and 
growth capital of US$639m. The 
vast portion of the growth capital 
will be spent at Salares Norte, with 
US$508m in project capital budgeted 
for what is set to be its peak capital 
year. In 2020, we spent US$112m 
of the total capital allocation of 
US$860m for Salares Norte.

Other specific projects include the 
development of a second decline at 
the Wallaby Underground mine at 
Granny Smith, plant modifications 
and increased development at Agnew 
to enhance the longer-term outlook 
and, finally, increased new mine 
development at South Deep.

DEBT PROFILE
Over the past two years, Gold Fields 
undertook various transactions to 
improve the liquidity and maturity 
profile of the Group’s debt. 

During 2020, we focused on 
repaying and renewing our US Dollar, 

Australian Dollar and Rand debt. 
In H1 2020, we renewed our two 
R500m (US$34m) revolving credit 
facilities (RCF) with improved interest 
rates and three-year maturities. 
In October 2020, Gold Fields repaid 
the outstanding US$600m of the 
2020 bond from a combination of 
cash resources and by drawing 
on our US Dollar debt facilities. 
In addition, we renewed our 
Australian Dollar facility during Q4 
2020 and extended its maturity from 
December 2021 to December 2023. 
As a result, the first sizeable maturity 
for the Group is now in December 
2023.

In July 2020, Gold Fields exercised a 
one-year extension for the US$1.2bn 
bank syndicated RCFs. Of the 
US$600m three-year RCF, which 
terminates in July 2022, US$485m 
has been extended to July 2023. 
Of the US$600m five-year RCF, which 
terminates in July 2024, US$485m 
has been extended to July 2025.

Wind turbines at Agnew, Australia

76

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

options on 1Moz of our Australian 
production at an average strike 
price of A$2,190/oz. In addition, we 
implemented a currency hedge on 
the Chilean Peso, as roughly two-
thirds of the costs relating to the 
Salares Norte project are in the local 
currency. Finally, we hedged 24kt of 
copper using zero cost collars with 
a floor of US$6,525/Mt and a cap of 
US$7,382/Mt. For full details of our 
hedges, see the table below:

HEDGING
Given the cyclical nature of our 
business, along with the volatility 
of the gold price, Gold Fields has 
implemented an active hedging 
programme over the past four years. 
We do not enter into long-term 
systematic hedges but rather regularly 
evaluate the Company’s position and 
outlook to determine whether short-
term hedging is appropriate. Our 
policy allows for hedging to protect 
cash-flows:
•  During times of significant 

expenditure

•  For specific debt servicing 

requirements

•  To safeguard the viability of higher-

cost operations 

TABLE OF HEDGES

The hedges that were in place 
from 2017 to 2019 protected our 
cash-flows while capex levels 
were elevated during the Group’s 
reinvestment programme. During 
2020, the purpose of our hedge 
book was to service our debt and, 
ultimately, enable management to 
achieve its debt reduction target. 
With the balance sheet in a much 
stronger position, management does 
not intend to put in place any more 
hedges that exclude our shareholders 
from the upside to the gold price. 

However, given the sizeable capital 
budget for the Salares Norte project, 
the Group purchased downside 
protection for 2021 in the form of put 

2020

Hedge

Country

Quantity hedged

Hedging instrument and price

Hedge term

Gold hedge Australia

210koz (21% of guidance) Swaps; Ave strike price of A$1,957/oz 

Jan 2020 – Dec 2020

Australia

270koz (27% of guidance) Zero-cost collars; Ave floor price of A$1,933/oz, 

Jan 2020 – Dec 2020

Ave cap price of A$2,014/oz 

Ghana

175koz (21% of guidance) Zero-cost collars; Ave floor price of US$1,364/oz, 

Jan 2020 – Dec 2020

Ave cap price of US$1,449/oz

Ghana

Ghana

100koz (12% of guidance) Swaps; Ave strike price of US$1,382/oz

Jan 2020 – Dec 2020

100koz (12% of guidance) Zero-cost collars; Ave floor price of US$1,400/oz, 

Ave cap price of US$1,557/oz

Jan 2020 – Dec 2020

South Africa 100koz (39% of guidance) Swaps; Ave strike price of R681,400/kg 

Jan 2020 – Dec 2020

South Africa 100koz (39% of guidance) Zero-cost collars; Ave floor price of R660,000/kg, 

Ave cap price of R727,000/kg 

Oil hedge

Ghana

123Mℓ (50% of annual 
diesel consumption)

Swaps; Equivalent Brent crude swap price 
US$59.20/bbl

Australia

75Mℓ (50% of annual 
diesel  consumption)

Swaps; Equivalent Brent crude swap price 
US$57.40/bbl

Jan 2020 – Dec 2020

Jan 2020 – Dec 2022

Jan 2020 – Dec 2022

Hedge

Country

Quantity hedged

Hedging instrument and price

Hedge term

2021

Gold hedge Australia

1,000koz (100% of 
guidance)

Put options; Ave strike price of A$2,190/oz

Jan 2021 – Dec 2021

Peru

24kt (97% of guidance)

Zero-cost collars; Ave floor price of US$6,525/
Mt;  Ave cap price of US$7,382/Mt

Jan 2021 – Dec 2021

Chile

US$546m

Exchange rate of 836.45 CLP per US$

Copper 
hedge

Chilean 
peso hedge

Oil hedge

Ghana

123Mℓ  (50% of annual 
diesel consumption)

Swaps; Equivalent Brent crude swap price 
US$75.80/bbl

July 2020 – Dec 2022

Jan 2020 – Dec 2022

Australia

75Mℓ  (50% of annual 
diesel  consumption)

Swaps; Equivalent Brent crude swap price 
US$74.00/bbl

Jan 2020 – Dec 2022

77

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

Consolidated income statement 
for the year ended 31 December 2020

Figures in millions unless otherwise stated

2020

2019

2018

United States Dollar

CONTINUING OPERATIONS
Revenue
Cost of sales
Investment income
Finance expense
(Loss)/gain on financial instruments
Foreign exchange gain/(loss)
Other costs, net
Share-based payments
Long-term incentive plan
Exploration expense
Share of results of equity accounted investees, net of taxation
Profit on disposal of Maverix Metals Incorporated
Restructuring costs
Silicosis settlement costs
Gain on acquisition of Asanko
Impairment, net of reversal of impairment of investments  
and assets
Tarkwa expected credit loss
(Loss)/profit on disposal of assets

Profit/(loss) before royalties and taxation
Royalties

Profit/(loss) before taxation
Mining and income taxation

Profit/(loss) for the year

Profit/(loss) attributable to:
– Owners of the parent
– Non-controlling interests

Earnings/(loss) per share attributable to owners  
of the parent:
Basic earnings/(loss) per share – cents
Diluted earnings/(loss) per share – cents

3,892.1
(2,150.4)
8.7
(126.7)
(238.9)
8.6
(11.5)
(14.5)
(51.3)
(49.7)
(2.6)
–
(2.0)
(0.3)
–

50.6
(29.0)
(0.2)

1,282.9
(105.0)

1,177.9
(432.5)

745.4

723.0
22.4

745.4

82
81

2,967.1
(2,033.5)
7.3
(102.2)
(238.0)
(5.2)
(67.6)
(20.5)
(9.1)
(84.4)
3.1
14.6
(0.6)
1.6
–

(9.8)
–
1.2

424.0
(73.7)

350.3
(175.6)

174.7

161.6
13.1

174.7

20
19

2,577.8
(2,043.0)
7.8
(88.0)
21.0
6.4
(44.8)
(37.5)
(1.1)
(104.2)
(13.1)
–
(113.9)
4.5
51.8

(520.3)
–
(51.6)

(348.2)
(62.5)

(410.7)
65.9

(344.8)

(348.2)
3.4

(344.8)

(42)
(42)

78

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

Consolidated statement of financial position
for the year ended 31 December 2020

Figures in millions unless otherwise stated

ASSETS
Non-current assets

Property, plant and equipment
Inventories
Equity accounted investees
Investments
Environmental trust funds
Loan advanced – contractor
Non-current derivative financial assets
Deferred taxation

Current assets

Inventories
Trade and other receivables
Derivative financial assets
Cash and cash equivalents

Assets held for sale

Total assets

EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
Equity attributable to owners of the parent

Stated capital
Other reserves
Retained earnings

Non-controlling interests

Total equity 
Non-current liabilities

Deferred taxation
Borrowings
Provisions
Lease liabilities
Long-term incentive plan
Non-current derivative financial liabilities

Current liabilities

Trade and other payables
Derivative financial liabilities
Royalties payable
Taxation payable
Current portion of borrowings
Current portion of lease liabilities
Current portion of provisions
Current portion of long-term incentive plan

Total liabilities

Total equity and liabilities

United States Dollar

2020

2019

5,713.0

4,771.2
141.5
233.3
147.9
79.3
68.4
31.4
240.0

1,730.4

521.6
240.1
81.9
886.8

29.4

5,460.2

4,657.1
141.0
172.0
155.1
69.5
–
–
265.5

1,069.9

417.8
136.0
1.1
515.0

31.2

7,472.8

6,561.3

3,664.5

3,871.5
(1,962.6)
1,755.6

163.7

3,828.2
2,728.1

499.9
1,443.4
379.3
364.8
33.4
7.3

916.5

550.6
21.8
17.7
121.3
83.5
64.2
23.6
33.8

2,777.0

3,622.5
(2,035.5)
1,190.0

131.7

2,908.7
2,284.8

433.6
1,160.9
391.1
287.7
11.5
–

1,367.8

466.8
127.6
13.9
24.8
684.9
45.2
4.6
–

3,644.6

7,472.8

3,652.6

6,561.3

79

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

Consolidated statement of cash-flows 
for the year ended 31 December 2020

Figures in millions unless otherwise stated

2020

 2019

 2018

United States Dollar

Cash-flows from operating activities

Cash generated by operations
Interest received
Change in working capital

Cash generated by operating activities
Silicosis payment
Interest paid
Royalties paid
Taxation paid

Net cash from operations
Dividends paid

– Owners of the parent
– Non-controlling interest holders
– South Deep BEE dividend

Cash-flows from investing activities

Additions to property, plant and equipment
Capital expenditure – working capital
Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment
Purchase of Asanko Gold
Purchase of investments
Redemption of Asanko Preference Shares
Proceeds on disposal of subsidiary
Proceeds on disposal of Maverix
Proceeds on disposal of investments
Loan advanced – contractors
Proceeds on disposal of Arctic Platinum
Contributions to environmental trust funds 

Cash-flows from financing activities

Loans raised
Loans repaid
Payment of lease liabilities
Proceeds from the issue of shares

Net cash generated/(utilised)
Effect of exchange rate fluctuation on cash held
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year

Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year

1,111.4

1,933.9
7.6
(171.8)

1,769.7
(3.5)
(127.2)
(102.5)
(278.7)

1,257.8
(146.4)

(137.7)
(7.6)
(1.1)

(607.4)

(583.7)
(7.1)
0.7
–  
(0.6)
37.5
–  
–  
22.9
(68.4)
–  
(8.7)

(139.8)

689.8
(1,014.2)
(64.4)
249.0

364.2
7.6
515.0

886.8

845.0

1,302.8
6.6
(24.6)

1,284.8
(4.6)
(132.0)
(72.3)
(181.8)

894.1
(49.1)

(45.5)
(2.2)
(1.4)

(446.8)

(612.5)
–  
3.7
(20.0)
(6.5)
10.0
6.2
66.8
112.6
–
–  
(7.1)

(104.6)

1,538.0
(1,604.3)
(38.3)
–

293.6
1.7
219.7

515.0

568.7

998.0
6.8
(31.9)

972.9
–  
(91.0)
(65.5)
(190.7)

625.7
(57.0)

(45.5)
(9.8)
(1.7)

(886.8)

(814.2)
–  
78.9
(165.0)
(19.3)
–  
–  
–  
0.5
–
40.0
(7.7)

151.6

690.0
(535.9)
(2.5)
–

(166.5)
(7.6)
393.8

219.7

80

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2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

VALUE CREATION FOR STAKEHOLDERS 

OVERVIEW

GOLD FIELDS 2021 BSC KPIs
•  Eliminate environmental incidents in our business 
•  Improve reputation with stakeholders 
•  Improve governance and compliance

Gold Fields-sponsored hatchery near South Deep, South Africa

2025 ESG CHARTER TARGETS

Strategic priority

Strategic intents

ASSOCIATED GROUP RISKS

No

Risk

Unlocking business, 
community and stakeholder 
value

Maximise Group host community 
employment

(cid:96)

Maximise Group host community 
procurement spend

Maximise Group in-country 
procurement

RELATED SDGs

Good health 
and wellbeing

Industrial 
innovation and 
infrastructure

Clean water 
and sanitation

Sustainable 
cities and 
communities

Decent work 
and economic 
growth

1

4

11

17

Covid-19
The impact of Covid-19 on our employees, 
communities and business

Resource nationalism
Resource nationalism, regulatory uncertainty and 
government imposts

Social licence
Impact on social licence and relationships with host 
community

Political risks
Political uncertainty in the areas where we operate

TRADE-OFFS
We continue to balance the needs of our host communities and governments with long-term value creation for all our 
stakeholder groups. Below are some of the key decisions taken during the year:

•  Increased investment in communities to strengthen and maintain our social licence to operate
•  Significant focus on host community employment and procurement comes at the expense of businesses and workers 

in other regions of the countries in which we operate

•  While our investment in local infrastructure is critical, this must not undermine the role of government in community 

development and administration

•  Our commitment to respectful relations with Indigenous communities in Australia will require potentially forgoing mining 

in culturally sensitive areas

•  Government and regulatory imposts and regulations that may impact the sustainability of our operations may require legal 

strategies, often in conjunction with our peers

•  Gold Fields is fully committed to the implementation of South Africa’s Mining Charter 3, but through the Minerals Council of 

South Africa, we are engaging government on elements that are contentious 

81

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VALUE CREATION FOR STAKEHOLDERS CONTINUED

COMMUNITIES
Our host communities are one of Gold 
Fields’ most important stakeholder 
groups – their support underpins our 
social licence to operate which, in 
turn, impacts our ability to generate 
and distribute enduring value. Our 
Group Community Policy Statement 
sets out our commitment to develop 
mutually beneficial relationships 
with our host communities through 
transparent and constructive 
engagements, which are based on 
shared respect and trust.

Host communities are defined 
as those people living within the 
vicinity of our operations who have 
been or could be directly affected 
by our exploration, construction 
or operational activities, and who 
have a reasonable expectation of 
our duties and obligations as the 
mining operator. Each operation 
within the Group identifies their host 
communities to secure both their legal 
mining and social licence to operate. 
In total, some 460,000 people live 
in 60 communities surrounding our 
eight mines.

At Gold Fields, a strong social licence 
to operate is embedded in our Group 
Societal Acceptance Charter. It is 
also a prerequisite for generating 
enduring value for stakeholders. 
This approach is underpinned by 
building strong relationships and trust, 
creating and sharing value, measuring 
our actions and input, and delivering 
against our commitments. In 2020, 
our regions successfully implemented 
government and community action 
plans – thereby ensuring delivery 
of the Group and regional Society 
Acceptance Charters.

In 2016, in addition to creating in-
country economic impact, we also 
started an initiative aimed at creating 
benefits for our host communities. 
At that point, loss of our social licence 
to operate was ranked fifth among 
our Group top 10 risks. This risk 
dropped from our top 10 risks in 
2018, which has remained the case 
due to the successful implementation 
of our host community procurement, 
job creation, socio-economic 
development (SED) and environmental 
management strategies. Loss of 
social licence is still considered a top 
mining industry risk.

HOW WE CREATE VALUE FOR OUR COMMUNITIES

As part of our 2020 reporting suite, we 
will publish our second Report to 
Stakeholders (RtS) during April 2021. 
The report outlines, at a high level, the 
contributions we make to our key 
stakeholders and recent developments 
impacting our relationships with them. 

  When published, our 2020 RtS can be 
accessed on our website at https://
www.goldfields.com/2020-annual-
report-suite.php

2020

REPORT TO STAKEHOLDERS

www.goldfi elds.com

  For details on our approach to community 
relations and stakeholder engagement, as 
well as our policies and guidelines, go to 
www.goldfields.com/sustainability.php

The diagram below details the three 
community-focused levers available 
to us:

Host community  
procurement creates 
community jobs and 
supply opportunities

•  Support areas where community suppliers can 

participate

•  Identify community suppliers with ability to 

supply the mine

•  Provide skills development to close capability 

gaps

Host community  
employment  
maximises local  
opportunities

Community  
investment drives  
integrated  
development

•  Build skills base in community workforce through 

education, bursaries, etc

•  Prioritise the community as the first option for hiring staff
•  Encourage contractors/suppliers to employ from the 

community

•  Create non-mining jobs linked to our SED investment 

projects or in partnership with suppliers

•  Balanced across services (medical, education), enterprise 

development and infrastructure

•  Matched to capacity and development needs of 

communities

•  Shared Value projects benefit both communities and 

our mines

•  Social benefit as a factor in developing closure criteria

PROCUREMENT

EMPLOYMENT

SOCIAL 
INVESTMENT

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2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

CREATING SHARED VALUE IN OUR 
HOST COMMUNITIES
The outbreak of the Covid-19 
pandemic has exacerbated economic 
hardships in our host communities, 
who now increasingly expect that 
our mines will help alleviate their 
burdens by providing economic or 
other assistance. The circumstances 
of this past year have reinforced 
our awareness of our communities’ 
priority needs. We believe that the 
greatest socio-economic benefit we 
can have on our host communities 
is to create value by addressing the 
following priority needs:
•  Employment, particularly for youth
•  Skills and enterprise development
•  Infrastructure, such as education, 
healthcare, water facilities and 
roads 

•  Environmental rehabilitation

We aim to maximise the positive 
socio-economic and environmental 
benefits of mining on our host 

HOST COMMUNITY VALUE CREATION

communities while avoiding or 
minimising the adverse impacts 
thereof. Our social investment 
initiatives are guided by the principle 
of Shared Value, whereby we address 
business and social needs to create 
value for both communities and our 
mines.

Our most important Shared Value 
initiative focuses on host community 
procurement and job creation, as we 
believe this will support the economic 
development of communities and 
individuals while also meeting the 
needs of our business. As a global 
mining company, we can make 
a positive impact by localising 
procurement, creating jobs and 
upskilling workers. In addition, by 
using community investment spend to 
focus on SED, we can further address 
regional social needs as identified by 
the communities themselves.

Between 2016 and 2020, we 
significantly enhanced our 

TYPE OF BENEFIT TO HOST COMMUNITIES

understanding of the value created 
through our SED investments, host 
community employment and host 
community procurement programmes 
by quantifying the impact thereof. 
Over the past five years, we have 
created between US$600m – 
US$800m in community value every 
year. Cumulatively, this amounts to 
over US$3.54bn which, we believe, 
presents a significant investment in 
the economic wellbeing of our host 
communities. Based on our analysis, 
of the US$2.85bn in value created 
during 2020, US$676m, 28% of 
the total, remained with our host 
communities as shown in the graph 
below. 

We have incentivised our 
management teams with ESG targets 
since 2017, including host community 
value creation. From 2021 onwards, 
a larger portion of incentives will be 
allocated to ESG goals.

GOLD FIELDS’ 2020  
VALUE DISTRIBUTION

EMPLOYEE WAGES 
US$123m

SED INVESTMENT 
US$17m

PROCUREMENT SPEND 
US$536m

TOTAL VALUE 
DISTRIBUTION 2020  
US$2.85b

28%  
HOST COMMUNITY  
VALUE  
US$676m

REGIONAL BREAKDOWN

AUSTRALIA 
US$230m

PERU 
US$31m

SOUTH AFRICA 
US$86m

GHANA 
US$328m

NUMBER OF 
SUPPLIERS AND 
JOBS IN HOST 
COMMUNITIES  
IN 2020:
679 
Host community 
suppliers
10,073  
Host community jobs  
in the mine value chain, 
comprising:
2,485 
Employees
6,267 
Contractors
649¹  
Suppliers
672  
Non-mining jobs

¹ Excluding Peru and Australia

83

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2020

VALUE CREATION FOR STAKEHOLDERS CONTINUED

Host community procurement
Our host community procurement 
programme guides us as we support 
those areas in our operations’ 
supply chains where community-
based enterprises can participate. 
Host community procurement, 
if implemented effectively, holds 
benefits for both the communities in 
which we operate and for our mines 
themselves. This aligns with our focus 
on driving Shared Value.

(cid:37)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:191)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:88)(cid:81)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:92)(cid:29)
•  Builds the capacity of local 

companies to take advantage of 
mining industry spend

•  Provides employment and 

enhances the livelihoods of host 
communities through increased 
incomes

•  Enhances the development of small 
and medium-scale business nodes 
in host communities

•  Improves the skills of host 

community youths to meet the 
current and future skills needs of 
our mines

(cid:37)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:191)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3)(cid:42)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:41)(cid:76)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:86)(cid:29)
•  Increases supply base and reduces 
risks related to supply of critical 
inputs

•  Reduces inventory and, as such, 

the locking up of capital

•  Reduces cost and lead time in 

procuring inputs

•  Develops a pipeline of skilled 

personnel in host communities
•  Secures and enhances our social 

licence to operate

Since 2016, we have actively increased 
host community procurement in 
Ghana, South Africa and Peru and, 
since 2018, in Australia. Our mines 
have annual targets that drive our 
host community procurement spend. 

Our total procurement spend amounted 
to US$1.78bn in 2020, of which 96% 
was spent by our mines on businesses 
based in the countries where we 
operate (2019: US$1.74bn/96%). 
We spent US$536m, or 29%, on 
suppliers and contractors from our 
mines’ host communities against a 
target of 25% (2019: US$635m/34%). 
The decrease in spend was as a result 
of Covid-19 and the change in mining 
contractor at Damang. Our Salares 
Norte project, which was in pre-
contraction during 2020, actively 
pursued procurement of goods and 
services from its host communities in 
line with the approved project plan. 
We are committed to further maximising 
our impacts going forward. 

The table below outlines the progress 
made for both in-country and host 
community value creation between 
2019 and 2020:

LOCAL AND HOST COMMUNITY PROCUREMENT

Local  
(in-country) 
procurement

2020 (US$m)

Local (in-country)  
spend (% of total)

Host 
community 
procurement

Host community  
spend (% of total)

2020

2019

2020 (US$m)

2020

2019

177

813

138

651

1,779

96%

99%

100%

91%

96%

96%

99%

100%

91%

96%

25

179

33

298

536

14%

23%

24%

42%

29%

15%

21%

28%

56%

34%

Country

Peru

Australia

South Africa

Ghana

Group

Community water infrastructure, Cerro Corona, Peru

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2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

Host community employment
We continue to prioritise the 
employment of host community 
members at our operations, and 
encourage our contractors and 
suppliers to do the same. This is 
supported by education and skills 
development projects which build a 
local skills base. 

In 2020, our operations set targets 
to maintain their host community 
employment. At the end of the 
year, 53% of our workforce, or 
8,752 people, were employed 
from our host communities (2019: 
55%/9,269 people). The decline from 
2019 reflects the change in mining 
contractors at our Ghanaian mines, 
measures that were implemented 
to address the impact of Covid-19 
at Cerro Corona, and an increase in 
Fly-In, Fly-Out (FIFO) workers due to 
employee turnover at our Australian 
mines.

We seek to maintain the current 
levels of host community employment 
during 2021 and beyond, as in most 

of the countries in which we operate 
each job has a significant multiplier 
effect. As such these jobs are critical 
for the 460,000 residents that live in 
our host communities. 

In the table below, we set out the 
number of national employees and 
host community members – including 
both employees and contractors 
– working in each of Gold Fields’ 
countries of operation in relation to 
our total workforce.

Beyond creating employment 
opportunities with our mines or 
contractors, or in the wider supply 
chain – which can only create a finite 
number of jobs – we are also seeking 
to create non-mining jobs, particularly 
those linked to SED projects. Non-
mining jobs can continue to provide 
benefits to host communities beyond 
mine closure, thus assisting them with 
social transitioning.

In 2019 and 2020, we intensified 
our efforts to ensure that our 
SED projects – those focusing 
on agriculture, infrastructure 

development, education and training, 
and economic diversification – also 
grow and sustain non-mining jobs. 
We are starting to see traction in 
this initiative and, during the year, 
created 672 non-mining jobs for host 
community members, with well over 
half of them in the agricultural sector 
(2019: 504). Due to their inherent 
nature, many of our SED projects 
do not provide long-term solutions, 
however, they do create income and 
a measure of skills transfer. 

The following projects created 
significant and sustainable jobs:
•  421 farming jobs at the Lima rural 
agricultural development projects 
in the Eastern Cape province of 
South Africa, which is home to 
about 16% of our workforce
•  16 farming jobs in communities 

surrounding our Cerro Corona mine 
in Peru

•  33 farming jobs in the Youth in 

Organic Horticulture Production 
(YouHoP) programme at our 
Damang and Tarkwa mines in 
Ghana

LOCAL AND HOST COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT

Country

Peru

Australia

South Africa

Ghana

Group

Local (in-county) 
employees – 
2020

Host community 
workforce1 – 
2020

2020

386

1,319

1,873

1,015

4,885

99%

78%

84%

99%

87%

711

536

2,703

4,802

8,752

2020

27%

19%

67%

69%

53%

2019

28%

23%

65%

72%

55%

1  Workforce comprises employees and contractors. Host community employment data excludes our corporate and regional offices, as well as our projects

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VALUE CREATION FOR STAKEHOLDERS CONTINUED

SED investments
We invested US$17.2m in SED 
projects in our host communities 
during 2020 (2019: US$21.5m). 
The 22% decline in total SED spend 
during 2020 compared with 2019 
is due to a delay in implementation 
of projects in Australia, Ghana and 
Peru because of Covid-19. Our mines 
have dedicated SED investment 
funds delivered directly or through 
our trusts and foundation. Our mines 
also partner with host governments, 
donors and NGOs. 

Some of the significant Shared Value 
projects we implemented during the 
year include our ongoing investment 
in water provision in Hualgayoc 
near our Cerro Corona mine. This 
investment addresses one of the 
key needs of the community and, 
since we started operating in the 
area in 2006, we have provided the 
majority of community households 
in Hualgayoc with access to 
clean water. During 2020, we also 
implemented the first phase of a 

three-year reforestation and water 
harvesting project together with 
the Ministry of Agriculture and the 
district municipality. The project will 
benefit 16,000 people by increasing 
crop production of subsistence 
farmers through the construction of 
2,000 micro-reservoirs and irrigation 
systems. 

GROUP SED SPEND 

US$m

GROUP SED BY TYPE (2020) 

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

4
1
.
6
1

8
1
.
7
1

1
3
.
5
2

5
3
.
1
2

0
2
.
7
1

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

(cid:122) Infrastructure
(cid:122) Education and training
(cid:122) Health and wellbeing
(cid:122) Economic diversification
(cid:122) Conservation and
environment
(cid:122) Charitable giving

54%
12%
8%
7%

1%
18%

Providing IT equipment to high school students, Tarkwa, Ghana

86

  
 
 
 
 
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2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

Covid-19 support 
Our operations continue to actively 
support host communities and 
governments in their efforts to control 
the Covid-19 pandemic and assist 
those that have been impacted 
by it. We tailored the support 
we provided to each country’s 
unique circumstances while also 
collaborating with our business 
partners and peers. Our support to 
communities included:
•  Donating to well-managed and 

transparent government or industry 
response funds

•  Donating medical and sanitising 

equipment

•  Distributing meals to vulnerable 

people

•  Supporting local government 

efforts, such as street sanitisation

•  Distributing masks, sanitisers, 
education leaflets and videos

•  Contributing to radio and television 

campaigns to educate, raise 
awareness, dispel myths and 
prevent stigmatisation and gender-
based violence

COVID-19 SUPPORT TO HOST COMMUNITIES AND GOVERNMENTS

Country

Chile

Peru

Australia

Ghana

South Africa1

Corporate

Group

Government 
donation
US$’000

Community 
spend
US$’000

Total
US$’000

—

155

—

434

962

130

244

688

195

361

58

—

1,677

1,546

244

839

195

795

1,020

130

3,223

1   Includes US$128,000 spent on communities by our business partners and US$43,500 by the South 

Deep Community Trust and the South Deep Education Trust

Measuring our impact and relationships
Our regions regularly conduct 
independent assessments to measure 
the strength of our relationships with 
host communities.

Over the years, we have seen a 
positive upward trend in Company-
community relationship at our 
operations, as reflected by the 
headline findings below. The findings 
of the independent assessments of 
our community support in Ghana, 

which was delayed due to Covid-19, 
will be available in H1 2021.

We expanded our independent 
measure of our social return on 
investment (SROI) and Shared Value 
created to identify those investments 
that strengthen our social licence 
to operate which, in turn, inform 
future investment strategies. After a 
delay in 2020 due to Covid-19, Peru 
will undertake an SROI analysis on 
selected projects in 2021 using our 
Group methodology.

Region

Peru

Description

South Africa

Ghana

Community acceptance improved from 5% in 2012 to 7% 
in 2014, 32% in 2016, and 48% in 2019

Community support increased from 33% in 2015 to 52% 
in 2017, 62% in 2019 (three communities measured), and 
61% in 2020 (five communities measured) 

Strong community support with a relationship index of 73% 
at Damang and 78% at Tarkwa in 2015

WORKING WITH INDIGENOUS 
COMMUNITIES IN AUSTRALIA
In Australia, we recognise Aboriginal 
and Torres Strait Islander peoples as 
the traditional owners of the lands on 
which we operate, and acknowledge 
and respect their continuing culture. 

In considering our strategy for 
engaging with Aboriginal and Torres 
Strait Islander peoples, we chose to 
partner with Reconciliation Australia 
(an independent, not-for-profit 
organisation) in 2018 to embark on 
its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) 
programme – a structured framework 
whereby organisations can support 
the national reconciliation movement 
by facilitating the development of 
respectful relationships with and 
creation of meaningful opportunities 
for Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander peoples.

Gold Fields developed its Reflect 
RAP in 2019 and formally launched 
the programme in early 2020. Our 
efforts focused on building and 
strengthening relationships, raising 
awareness of the RAP process and 
the broader reconciliation effort, and 
finding opportunities to listen and 
learn from the lived experiences and 
aspirations of the Aboriginal and 
Torres Strait Islander people from 
our communities. This has enabled 
us to better understand the barriers 
to progress in key areas, such as 
employment and procurement, and 
the options available to effect change. 
Moving these strategies forward will 
be an important component of our 
second (Innovate) RAP, which will be 
finalised in 2021. 

We continue to work closely with the 
Yilka and Sullivan Edwards people, 
the determined Native Title holders of 
the land on which Gruyere operates. 
In terms of our agreement with these 
parties, we continue to look for ways 
to sustain and grow employment 
and business opportunities, as well 
as support health, education and 
other programmes for the local 
Aboriginal community.  It is particularly 
encouraging to see the Yilka 
Aboriginal Ranger programme come 
into fruition, and we welcome the 
opportunity to support and promote 
the group’s conservation and land 
management activities. 

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VALUE CREATION FOR STAKEHOLDERS CONTINUED

As part of this, we obtained 
independent advice on best practice 
approaches to conducting Aboriginal 
cultural heritage surveys, which will 
form the basis of a new Regional 
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Standard 
in 2021.  

We continue to support the building 
of capacity and understanding of 
Aboriginal cultural heritage at our 
operations through cultural awareness 
training, which is facilitated by 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 
people who share insights and 
knowledge of their country – the lands 
on which we operate.  

We have extensive protocols in place 
for the recording, impact assessment 
and protection of identified Aboriginal 
cultural heritage sites, primarily 
through our ground disturbance 
permitting process. Where potential 
impacts to cultural heritage sites from 
mining activities could not be avoided 
or mitigated, we have complied 
with the Section 18 approvals 
prescribed by the legislation prior to 
any disturbance. We do not intend 
to action any existing approvals, nor 
apply for any new approvals at this 
stage. 

Through the Chamber of Minerals and 
Energy (CME), we are participating 
in an extensive consultation process 
with respect to the reform of current 
heritage legislation, with the new 
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 
expected to be implemented later 
this year. We agree that the current 
legislation requires modernisation 
to reflect the expectations of both 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 
people, broader society and land 
users (including mining companies), 
and welcome this long-awaited 
reform.   

Consistent with our strategy, we 
support the current approach 
proposed by the Western Australia 
government, which seeks to embed 
agreement-making on Aboriginal 
cultural heritage matters into 
the legislation. We will continue 
to participate in the review and 
consultation process of the 
draft legislation and supporting 

documents to ensure the legislation 
achieves improved outcomes for 
all stakeholders in this important 
area. We are also currently making 
progress in the negotiations with our 
Aboriginal stakeholders at several of 
our operations to formalise robust 
cultural heritage management 
protocols.

Chile
While no Indigenous Peoples have 
a relationship with our Salares Norte 
project site, as confirmed through 
the project’s environmental approval 
process, we have engaged with 
the Colla Indigenous communities 
located some 70km from the project 
since 2015. We have signed social 
development agreements with the 
key Colla communities, and we are 
holding regular meetings to present 
our progress against our project 
plan and to identify and address any 
concerns from these communities. 
Nine sites of cultural significance to 
the Colla communities have been 
identified near the project access road 
– none of which are declared national 
monuments. We have a community 
relations and heritage conservation 
plan in place to protect the identified 
sites.  

POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL 
IMPACTS
Our activities have the potential 
to adversely impact surrounding 
communities. We have policy 
statements and guidelines in place 
that provide the framework to enable 
us to avoid and, where we cannot 
avoid, manage the environmental 
impact on our host communities. 

Grievance mechanisms 
It is critical that we have a clear 
understanding of any issues raised 
by our communities. Community 
grievance management is 
therefore a key component of the 
community relations programme. 
All our operations have established 
grievance mechanisms in place that 
enable us to address and resolve 
any grievances that arise from 
our activities. These mechanisms 
encourage and enable community 
members to submit complaints to 
us. Our mines are then obligated to 

While our relationships at our 
other operations in Australia 
have traditionally been focused 
on Aboriginal cultural heritage 
awareness and management, 
the RAP broadened the scope of 
our engagements and provided 
opportunities for participation in 
important community events.   

We support a range of activities and 
programmes that directly benefit our 
Aboriginal communities. In Leonora 
and Laverton, two communities near 
our mines, we are proud to support 
the Shooting Stars educational 
programme through the Gold Industry 
Group of Australian gold miners. This 
programme uses sport and other 
tools to encourage greater school 
engagement among Aboriginal 
girls and young women. We also 
participate in a local industry group 
based in Kalgoorlie, near our St Ives 
mine, to support greater economic 
development for Aboriginal and Torres 
Strait Islander people and businesses 
in the Goldfields region. 

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE CULTURAL 
HERITAGE PROTECTION
Australia
Stakeholder engagement remains 
a key focus area for the Australian 
region. An important lesson from the 
tragic and irreversible destruction 
of ancient caves located at Juukan 
Gorge in Western Australia in 2020 
is that ongoing and transparent 
stakeholder engagement must be 
closely aligned with legal approval 
and heritage management processes.

In response to the findings from the 
Parliamentary Inquiry into the Juukan 
Gorge incident, we are reviewing 
and updating our engagement plans 
and implementation guides to ensure 
we continue to cultivate strong 
relationships with traditional owners 
that support the early resolution of 
emerging concerns and priorities.  

We are also updating our current 
processes for identifying, evaluating, 
and communicating risks associated 
with Aboriginal cultural heritage to 
ensure we embed cultural heritage 
risk assessment and management 
into our decision-making processes. 

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2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

address these grievances within a 
specified period. Where necessary, 
members from local communities act 
as mediators should our teams not be 
able to resolve issues raised.  

During 2020, our operations dealt 
with 139 grievances (2019: 77) 
lodged by our communities, of 
which 75 were related to jobs and 
procurement, along with 52 social and 
12 environmental grievances. 80% 

of these grievances were resolved 
within the agreed timeframes. The 
outstanding grievances are at Cerro 
Corona and relate mainly to delayed 
payments by contractors.

Potential impacts from our 
activities 

Policies and guidelines

•  Water withdrawal from catchment
•  Water and soil contamination 

or impacts on biodiversity from 
environmental incidents such as 
leaks or spillages of process water, 
sewage effluent, tailings, oil and 
fuel, and water discharge

•  Dust from tailings facilities, waste 
rock dumps, blasting and roads
•  Noise and vibrations from blasting

•  Water Stewardship Policy, which requires collaboration with stakeholders in our 

catchment areas to ensure responsible use of water resources

•  Environment Policy, which was updated in 2021 and commits Gold Fields to 
zero Level 3 to Level 5 environmental incidents and includes commitments to 
responsible environmental stewardship, sustainable use of resources, protection 
of biodiversity and ecosystems, and pollution prevention. Our policy also 
commits us to effectively manage water and apply strong and transparent water 
governance to collaboratively achieve responsible and sustainable water use, and 
to engagement and communicate with stakeholders on environmental matters
•  Tailings Storage Facility Management Policy, which was updated in 2020 and 
commits Gold Fields to implementing the GISTM, which strives to achieve the 
ultimate goal of zero harm to people and the environment, with a zero tolerance 
for human fatality 

•  Climate Change Policy, which was updated in 2020 and commits Gold Fields to 

collaborating with governments, peers, investors, NGOs and host communities to 
develop effective climate change policies

•  Water management guideline
•  Environmental Incident Classification and Reporting Guideline which supports 

corrective and preventative management of environmental incidents or potential 
environmental incidents

•  Biodiversity Guidelines which enables our Environmental Policy commitment to 

biodiversity and ecosystems

•  Sustainable Development Policy
•  Environment Policy, which was updated in 2021 and commits Gold Fields to 
managing significant environmental aspects (or risks), legal and regulatory 
compliance thus ensuring that dust, noise or blasting vibration are contained 
within legal limits where they may occur, and zero Level 3 to Level 5 environmental 
incidents. Our policy also commits us to engaging and communicating with 
stakeholders on environmental matters

•  Tailings Storage Facility Management Policy, which was updated in 2020 and 
commits Gold Fields to implementing the GISTM, which strives to achieve the 
ultimate goal of zero harm to people and the environment, with a zero tolerance 
for human fatality 

•  Climate Change Policy, which was updated in 2020 and commits Gold Fields to 

collaborating with governments, peers, investors, NGOs and host communities to 
develop effective climate change policies

•  Materials and Supply Chain Stewardship Policy
•  Our Integrated Mine Closure Management Guideline ensures that Gold Fields 
proactively plans and manages eventual mine closure to pursue zero harm to 
the environment and human health and enhances sustainable development. The 
guideline requires appropriate engagement with stakeholders to identify, mitigate 
or manage significant risks associated with both operations and closures

•  Environmental Incident Classification and Reporting Guideline, which supports 

corrective and preventative management of environmental incidents or potential 
environmental incidents

89

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

VALUE CREATION FOR STAKEHOLDERS CONTINUED

HUMAN RIGHTS 
Gold Fields is committed to upholding 
and protecting the human rights 
of its stakeholders, particularly our 
people and members of our host 
communities. We recognise that our 
mining activities have the potential 
to impact the human rights of these 
important stakeholder groups.

Our Human Rights Policy Statement, 
which is embedded in our Code of 
Conduct, applies to all directors, 
employees and third parties, including 
suppliers and contractors. 

  The Code of Conduct can be found on our 
website at www.goldfields.com/code-of-
conduct.php

Under the Human Rights Policy 
Statement, Gold Fields commits 
to, among others:
•  Not interfering with or curtailing 

others’ enjoyment of their human 
rights

•  Defending, where possible, 

employees and external Gold Fields 
stakeholders, such as community 
members, against human rights 
abuses by third parties

•  Taking positive action to facilitate 
the entrenchment and enable the 
enjoyment of human rights and 
protecting the right to human 
dignity

•  Protecting the right to freedom of 

conscience, religion, thought belief 
and opinion

•  Encouraging diversity and 

inclusiveness

•  Respecting cultural heritage of 

communities surrounding our mines

The Human Rights Policy Statement 
is informed by and supports various 
international standards. These include 
the United Nations (UN) Guiding 
Principles on Business and Human 
Rights, the conventions of the 
International Labour Organisation, the 
UN Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights, the Voluntary Principles on 
Security and Human Rights (VPSHR), 
and the ICMM Mining Principles and 
Position Statements.

A Human Rights Steering Committee 
oversees the work by the various 
disciplines and regions, and feedback 
is provided to the Board’s Social, 
Ethics and Transformation (SET) 
Committee on a quarterly basis. 
A number of salient human rights 

90

issues have been identified by the 
Steering Committee. These issues 
have particularly the most severe 
negative impacts because of the 
Company’s activities or business 
relationships and are the focus of 
work by our operational teams.

In December 2020, we launched our 
new e-learning human rights training 
to equip all Gold Fields employees 
with a sound understanding of 
human rights, how these rights affect 
our Company and stakeholders, 
as well as empower our people to 
uphold these rights. Also in 2020, 
we developed a human rights due 
diligence tool, which formalises 
identification and assessment of our 
actual and potential human rights 
impacts and aligns to our existing 
risk management process. Training 
and due diligence will be rolled out 
during 2021. 

Gold Fields recognises that human 
rights are at risk from the impacts 
of Covid-19 and actively supported 
and continues to support its people, 
communities and government 
during the pandemic. Details of our 
programmes and interventions can 
be found on p57 and p87.

WORKFORCE
Our Human Rights Policy Statement 
commits Gold Fields to protecting 
the rights of our workforce and 
upholding freedom from child labour, 
freedom from forced or compulsory 
labour, freedom from discrimination 
while recognising the need to affirm 
previously disadvantaged groups, and 
freedom of association and collective 
bargaining.

Internal grievance mechanisms are 
in place to ensure employees and 
contractors can raise human rights 
concerns. Grievances are handled 
by the Gold Fields HR function 
in consultation with legal teams. 
Employees can also raise concerns 
via independent counsellors as part of 
the Gold Fields Employee Assistance 
Programme, and make use of Gold 
Fields’ confidential, third-party 
whistleblowing hotline. During the 
year, two grievances were raised by 
employees regarding harassment and 
sexual harassment, both of which 
were assessed internally, resulting in 
one dismissal.

Performance in 2020
•  Our Diversity Policy, approved by 
the Board in 2017, which outlines 
our commitment to equality and 
the zero tolerance approach we 
take to discrimination. In 2020, we 
developed a diversity and inclusion 
dashboard that allows tracking of 
our diversity progress

•  Approved an updated Harassment 

Policy

•  Code of Conduct training, first 

rolled out to all employees in 2017, 
was updated and employees 
received refresher training, including 
on human rights, during 2020
•  Undertook training on human 

rights at Cerro Corona and Salares 
Norte, with weekly talks by an 
independent specialist 

COMMUNITY
Our host communities are one 
of Gold Fields’ most important 
stakeholder groups and we seek 
to develop mutually beneficial 
relationships with them, based on 
shared respect and trust. More 
than any other stakeholders, our 
operations have the potential to 
adversely impact the rights, traditions 
and cultures of local communities. 
As such due diligence on human 
rights is critical.

Performance in 2020
•  We continued the roll-out of our 

revised artisanal small-scale mining 
(ASM) strategy at our Ghanaian 
operations to sensitise community 
members on the negative 
consequences of ASM and the 
regulatory penalties incurred when 
actively supporting illegal mining
•  No resettlement was undertaken 

at our operations in 2020
•  We reviewed our Indigenous 
Peoples and cultural heritage 
safeguards and risks. This is most 
critical in the Australia region. 
Details of our strategy and actions 
are detailed on p88. In our other 
regions, our sites have identified all 
sensitive, sacred and other sites of 
significance to Indigenous People 
(Chile) and host communities 
(Ghana, Peru and South Africa) in 
proximity to our operations, and 
ensured that these sites are subject 
to adequate protection measures 

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

SUPPLIERS 
Our suppliers are required to comply 
with the Group Code of Conduct, 
the Gold Fields Supplier Code of 
Conduct and our Human Rights 
Policy Statement as a standard 
provision in all third-party contractual 
agreements. An external third-party 
screening system evaluates new and 
existing suppliers and contractors 
on a monthly basis for an array of 
pre-defined risk categories, including 
human rights and related violations 
and/or transgressions. 

Gold Fields is committed to 
responsible materials stewardship. 
In this context, we support global 
efforts to prevent the use of newly 
mined gold to finance conflict. We 
have voluntarily adopted the Conflict-
Free Gold Standard of the World 
Gold Council (WGC). Although we 
withdrew our WGC membership 
in 2014, we have and will continue 
to apply both the standard and its 
guidelines. No infraction was incurred 
in 2020. 

  Further information is available at www.
goldfields.com/sustainability-reporting.php

Performance in 2020
•  In response to the 2018 

implementation of the Modern 
Slavery Act in Australia, Gold 
Fields and a number of its formed 

the West Australian Modern 
Slavery Collaborative, focused on 
the promotion of human rights 
best practices and elimination of 
potential modern slavery practices 
in the energy and extractives 
sectors. Following the development 
of a supplier due diligence 
questionnaire focused on modern 
slavery risks, the Group is now 
focusing on sharing knowledge and 
learnings in the areas of supplier 
training and the remediation of 
identified slavery practices

•  Key suppliers to our Australian  

mines have been provided with a 
toolkit to identify possible human 
rights contraventions

•  Gold Fields commenced the 
drafting of its Modern Slavery 
Compliance Statement, which 
is due to be published and 
registered with the Australia Federal 
Government by the end of Q2 2021

SECURITY
Gold Fields’ protection services teams 
work with both private and public 
security providers for the effective and 
responsible protection of our workers 
and assets. All private security 
contractors receive human rights 
training during the induction process, 
and at least annually thereafter, 
including on the VPSHR. Security is 
managed at regional level, because 
each region has its own specific 
context.

Performance in 2020
•  There were 33 illegal mining 

incidents at our Ghana operations, 
mostly minor in nature, which 
were resolved peacefully and 
without human rights violations in 
accordance with our ASM strategy
•  Presentations on the VPSHR were 
given to the police detachment and 
community consultative committees 
at our mines in Ghana

•  Implementation of the VPSHR 

continued in Ghana, South Africa 
and Peru and is in preparation at 
our Salares Norte project 

GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS
We are committed to addressing 
community issues and concerns 
timeously and effectively. Therefore, 
we rely on an external grievance 
reporting system to maintain 
confidence and transparent 
communication with our stakeholders. 
Our grievance mechanism enables 
and encourages community members 
to freely put forward their complaints, 
while obligating our mines to address 
the grievances within an agreed 
period, before the grievance is 
escalated to independent mediation. 

During 2020, 139 grievances were 
lodged at our operations (2019: 77). 
The increase in grievances was 
mainly due to restrictions enforced 
as a result of governments’ Covid-19 
regulations and their impact on 
economic incomes of community 
members. See p88.

Safety training at South Deep, South Africa

91

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

VALUE CREATION FOR STAKEHOLDERS CONTINUED

GOVERNMENT  
As the issuers of mining licences, 
developers of policy and implementers 
of regulations, host governments are 
among Gold Fields’ most important 
stakeholders. This first and foremost 
requires our full adherence to all 
relevant legislation, including the 
payment of taxes and other levies. 
We are committed to working with 
governments at national, regional 
and local levels to establish sound 
and transparent working relationships 
that benefit the countries and host 
communities. This is particularly 
relevant during the Covid-19 
pandemic, where our mines and 
project have actively assisted 
governments in managing and 
mitigating the impacts thereof. 

Gold Fields does not provide financial 
contributions to political parties 
and lobby groups unless explicitly 
approved by the Board of Directors 
in accordance with the Company’s 
Code of Conduct. No political 
donations were made during 2020.

Gold Fields’ tax strategy is to 
proactively manage tax obligations 
in a transparent, responsible and 
sustainable manner, acknowledging 
the differing interests of all our 
stakeholders. 

  Our full tax strategy and policy can be found 
at www.goldfields.com/integrated-annual-
reports.php

RESOURCE NATIONALISM
Many governments, particularly 
in developing countries, view the 
mining industry as an easy target 
for higher taxes and other fiscal and 
regulatory imposts, especially during 
tough economic times. This has 
been exacerbated during the current 
Covid-19 crisis, as governments have 
faced declining tax revenues while 
metal prices in general, and gold 
in particular, have recorded healthy 
gains over the past two years. Gold 
Fields, on its own and in conjunction 
with its peers, seeks to address 
the trust gap that exists between 
government and miners in a number 
of ways, including the following:
•  Consistently creating between 
US$2bn and US$3bn in total 
annual value for our wide range 
of stakeholders, including 
governments and communities

92

•  Actively promoting host 

community value creation through 
host community employment,  
procurement and investment
•  Working with our peers in the 

ICMM to promote industry-wide 
best practice and demonstrate the 
benefits of a responsible and fairly 
regulated industry 

During 2020, we conducted 
independent desktop resource 
nationalism assessments in Ghana, 
Australia, Peru and Chile, which 
provided valuable input on how to 
increase trust and confidence among 
governments and communities. 
The key proposals reinforce many 
of the key strategies already being 
implemented by our operations, 
namely strengthened engagement 
with governments at all levels, 
community value creation and 
improved communication on the 
socio-economic benefits of mining.

Our regions are acting on these 
recommendations through the 
implementation of government action 
plans, and are seeking to work with 
our mining peers in these countries 
on enacting others.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also 
served as a catalyst to work more 
cooperatively with governments. 
With Covid-19 threatening the tax 
income of governments, we found 
more common ground with them. 
In most of the countries where we 
operate, governments declared 
mining an essential service, allowing 
us to continue operating when other 
sectors’ activities were curtailed. 
At the same time, we and other 
mining companies actively supported 
governments by providing facilities, 
health resources and much-needed 
funding. During 2020, our mines 
donated well over US$3m in medical 
and sanitary equipment and other 
goods to host communities and 
governments.

AMERICAS REGION
Our engagement in Peru is focused 
at local, regional and national 
government levels to address 
operational, social and sustainability 
matters. Over the past two years, 
Peru has seen three changes in its 
national government. Still, the new 
administrations have by and large 
been business-friendly and respecting 

private sector investment. Our 
engagement is largely carried out via 
the National Chamber of Mines, Oil 
and Energy, especially on regulatory 
matters. 

The industry enjoys good working 
relationships with various ministries. 
Traditionally, regional and local-level 
officials in the Cajamarca province, 
where our Cerro Corona mine is 
located, have criticised extractive 
companies’ environmental and social 
standards and adopted anti-mining 
strategies and policies. We are 
seeking to build trust between mines 
and communities and have entered 
into a number of formal agreements 
with state entities. 

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic 
we have again intensified our 
engagement activities in our areas 
of influence, which is primarily the 
Hualgayoc community but extends 
to communities downstream of our 
mine, including the Bambamarca 
municipality. The extension of Cerro 
Corona’s life-of-mine to 2030 will also 
require more long-term community 
investment programmes and 
strategies. 

In Chile, most political and social 
stakeholders have welcomed 
our decision to proceed with the 
construction of the Salares Norte 
mine in northern Chile. Albeit in a 
Covid-19 impacted low investment 
environment, Salares Norte was one 
of Chile’s largest investment projects 
during 2020 and was identified by 
the government as a key project for 
economic upturn in the Atacama 
province.

During 2020, engagement in Chile, 
focused on supporting communities, 
in coordination with regional and local 
governments to scope the economic 
and social impact of the pandemic, 
and on the implementation of a tight 
permitting plan for Salares Norte. 
We have been able to obtain all the 
permits required for construction of 
the mine as planned, and no delays 
were registered.

The decision to build the project 
was taken in the run-up to the 
constitutional referendum in October, 
where the large majority of voters 
decided to begin the process of 
drafting a new constitution, formally 
set to commence in April 2021 and 

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

lead to new elections later this year. 
This is not expected to result in 
policies that could potentially disrupt 
the construction of the mine. 

AUSTRALIA REGION
Our engagements in Australia 
are primarily focused at state and 
local government levels to address 
economic and sustainability matters.

The Labor government in Western 
Australia, which increased its majority 
after state elections in March 2021, 
has pursued broad-ranging legislative 
reforms aimed at streamlining 
regulation to encourage investment 
in the region. A key component 
of this agenda is the 2020 reform 
of the Environmental Protection 
Act 1986. While not representing 
wholesale reform, the changes serve 
to modernise the Act and make its 
regulatory processes more “efficient, 
risk-based and flexible”.

The state government also 
progressed a comprehensive reform 
of workplace safety laws, with the 
new Work Health and Safety Act  
replacing the existing parallel regimes 
for general workplaces and mine 
sites. Specific regulations for general 
industry, mining and petroleum 
will supplement the Act, and are 
expected to be passed in late 2021. 
We continue to participate in the 
consultation process through the 
Chamber of Minerals and Energy. 

The current framework for the 
protection of Aboriginal cultural 
heritage in Western Australia has 
also been the subject of an extensive 
review and public consultation 
process over the current term of 
the state government, with this 
framework subjected to intense 
scrutiny during the Parliamentary 
Inquiry into the destruction of ancient 
caves at Juukan Gorge in 2020. The 
new proposed legislation, which 
will replace the Aboriginal Heritage 
Act in its entirety, is expected 
to significantly expand existing 
protection for Aboriginal cultural 
heritage by introducing a risk-based, 
layered approach of due diligence 
and approvals for activities that may 
harm cultural heritage values, as well 
as significantly increasing the range 
of offences and penalties for any 
breaches. Gold Fields has provided 
feedback through its involvement 

in the CME. The new legislation is 
expected to pass and come into 
effect during the course of 2021. 

WEST AFRICA REGION
In March 2016, Gold Fields Ghana 
entered into a Development 
Agreement (DA) with the government 
of Ghana for both the Tarkwa and 
Damang mines. The highlights of the 
agreement, which comes into effect 
if we spend US$500m at each of the 
two mines – over an 11-year period 
for Tarkwa and a nine-year period 
for Damang –  include a reduction 
in the corporate tax rate from 35% 
to 32.5% and a sliding scale royalty 
tax based on the gold price. The 
US$1,760/oz average gold price our 
mines received during 2021 attracted 
an average royalty of 4.1% in terms of 
the formula.

The DA does not apply to Asanko, 
in which Gold Fields acquired a 
45% stake in 2018. However, this 
transaction and our US$340m 
investment in Damang illustrate the 
confidence we have in Ghana’s fiscal 
and regulatory framework.

The DA has cemented our status 
as one of the largest contributors to 
the country’s fiscus. In 2021, Gold 
Fields paid over US$215m in direct 
taxes, royalties and dividends to 
the government of Ghana (2020: 
US$171m). The government holds 
a 10% interest in the legal entities 
controlling the Tarkwa, Damang and 
Asanko mines.

We continue to engage the 
government, through the Ghana 
Chamber of Mines, on the proposed 
requirement to sell a portion of gold 
produced in Ghana to a local refinery 
for value-addition purposes. The 
Chamber has presented government 
with a number of options on how 
this could be implemented without 
financial detriment to local mining 
companies. These are being reviewed 
by the government.

The national elections held on 
7 December 2020 were largely 
peaceful and the government under 
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-
Addo was returned by a slim majority, 
though the outcome has been formally 
contested by the opposition party. 
The outcome of the election has no 
material impact on Gold Fields.

SOUTH AFRICA REGION
From a regulatory perspective, 
Gold Fields’ South Deep mine is 
guided primarily by the Mineral and 
Petroleum Resources Development 
Act No 38 of 2002 (MPRDA). One 
of the key requirements of the 
MPRDA, which Gold Fields supports, 
is to facilitate meaningful and 
substantial participation of Historically 
Disadvantaged South Africans 
(HDSAs) in the mining industry. 
To provide guidance on this open-
ended requirement, the Mining Charter 
provides for a range of empowerment 
actions and community investment 
programmes with a corollary 
timeframe and all mining rights holders 
are required to submit an annual 
compliance assessment on progress 
made against the annual targets in 
the Charter. Gold Fields continues to 
comply with this process.

The Department of Mineral Resources 
and Energy (DMRE) published Mining 
Charter 3 (MC3) in September 
2018. The Minerals Council South 
Africa (MCSA), which represents the 
industry, considers most aspects of 
the Charter a framework within which 
the industry can operate. There are, 
however, critical areas over which 
Gold Fields and the industry have 
concerns, namely that the Charter 
does not fully recognise the Black 
Economic Empowerment (BEE) 
ownership credentials of previous 
BEE transactions. This is applicable 
to new mining rights applications, 
renewals and transfers.

The MCSA continues to engage with 
the DMRE to resolve the concerns 
around the MC3 and has filed an 
application in March 2019 for a 
judicial review and setting aside 
certain clauses of the Charter. The 
judicial proceedings are ongoing.

Gold Fields supports achieving a 
solution that is viable to support 
economic growth and transformation 
while, at the same time, fostering 
a sustainable mining industry in 
South Africa in which investment is 
encouraged and rewarded. 

We believe that our current BEE 
ownership level of 35% meets the 
principles and spirit of the original 
Mining Charter, and has created 
the framework for the ongoing 
transformation of South Deep.

93

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

VALUE CREATION FOR STAKEHOLDERS CONTINUED

Mining Charter Scorecard
All mining rights holders in South 
Africa are required to submit an 
annual compliance assessment to 
the DMRE on progress made against 
the annual targets in the Mining 
Charter. South Deep’s performance 
against the Charter scorecard in 2020 
scorecard is displayed on this page.

As part of its obligations under 
its mining licence, South Deep 
also submits a five-year Social 
and Labour Plan (SLP). The 
SLP includes projects benefiting 
employees and communities that 
are impacted by mining, both in host 
communities and labour sending 
areas. An SLP requires the mining 
industry to develop and implement 
comprehensive skills and human 
resource development, employment 
equity plans and facilitated home 
ownership as well as mine community 
development.

The SLP for the period 2018 to 
2022 was submitted to the DMRE 
in December 2017 and approved 
for implementation in 2019. The 
SLP outlines financial commitments 
of over R283m (US$20m) over the 
five-year period, with the bulk of this – 
R258m (US$18m) – being dedicated 
to human resource development 
programmes, including learnerships, 
bursaries and skills development, for 
both the workforce and members 
of our host communities. Of the 
mine community development 
commitments, R17m (US$1.2m) is 
targeted at our host communities 
in Greater Westonaria and R8m 
(US$0.6m) at communities in labour-
sending areas, particularly the Eastern 
Cape. Nine projects are included in 
the approved SLP and seven projects 
were active during 2020.

Our housing plan was resubmitted 
in Q4 2020 and allows for home 
ownership investment decisions 
to be driven by employees 
themselves. The housing policy 
is aimed at facilitating affordable 
home ownership and access to 
decent accommodation options by 
providing for a housing allowance, 
a living-out allowance, the provision 
of mine owned accommodation 
for rental, and financial support for 
home ownership. Home ownership 
can include purchasing new or 
existing homes, upgrading a home or 
purchasing houses from South Deep. 
Implementation of the new policy 
started in Q1 2021.

94

SOUTH DEEP MC3 2020 SCORECARD

Element

Description

Compliance target

Ownership

Representation of HDPs

26%

Inclusive 
procurement

Inclusive procurement

Employment equity

Board

Executive management

Senior management

Middle management

Junior management

Employees with disabilities

Core and critical skills

Human resources 
development (HRD)2

HRD expenditure as % of total annual leviable 
amount (excluding  mandatory skills development 
levy)

70% of mining goods’ procurement 
spend must be on South African 
manufactured goods (60% local value = 
South African manufactured goods)

80% of service procurement spend must 
be sourced from South African-based 
companies

Research and development (R&D)

Sample analysis across the mining 
value chain
% Black persons
% Black women
% Black persons
% Black women
% Black persons
% Black women
% Black persons
% Black women
% Black persons
% Black women
1.5% of all employees
HDPs represented in core and critical 
skills pool
5% leviable amount

Mine community 
development (MCD)

Meaningful contribution towards MCD with bias  
towards mine communities both in terms of impact, 
and in keeping with the principles of the social 
licence to operate

100% compliance with approved SLP 
MCD commitments

Housing and living 
conditions2

Improvement of the standard of housing and living 
conditions of mine employees

100% compliance with commitments 
per the H&LCS

BEE – Black Economic Empowerment

HDP – Historically Disadvantaged Person

H&LCS = Housing and Living Condition Standard

Yes

Yes

Yes

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

Five-year 
implementation 
plan requirement

Year (2020) target1

Target

Gold Fields 
target

Measure

Meaningful economic participation

Full shareholder rights

Year (2020) progress1

35%

20%

10% (local 
content 
verification not 
required for years 
1-3)

70%

80%

31%
5%

The total mining goods procurement budget must be spent on South African manufactured goods produced by the 
following categories, per defined percentage:
21% on HDSA-owned and controlled company
5% on women or youth-owned and controlled 
company
44% on BEE compliant company
The total services budget must be spent on services supplied by following categories, per defined percentage:
50% by HDPs
15% by women-owned and controlled company
5% by youth-owned and controlled company
10% by BEE compliant company
Minimum of 70% of the total R&D budget to be 
spent on South African-based R&D entities
Utilise South African-based facilities or companies 
for the analysis of 100% of all mineral samples

48%

47%
16.17%
0%
85%
100% 
(R2,437,080)
99.95% 
(28,526 samples)
67%
33%
67%
33%
35%
6%
56%
20%
69%
21%
0.5%
76%

In 2020, South Deep spent 4% of its annual payroll on skills 
development programmes. This spend related to the provision of 
training and development initiatives for employees (permanent and 
contractors) and members of the South Deep host communities. 
HRD spend was curtailed due to Covid-19.
Yes

South Deep commenced with the following host community projects:
•  Provision of land and construction of the Hillshaven Clinic and 

refurbishment of the Hillshaven sports complex 

•  Construction of the Westonaria TVET 
•  Construction of Zuurbekom Library
•  Building and equipping of a science lab at TM Letlhake Secondary 

School

Two projects were implemented in the Eastern Cape labour sending 
area, namely the construction of a Flagstaff Transport Hub and an 
agricultural support project in Lusikisiki. Although the above projects 
were impacted by Covid-19, the mine is on track to deliver these 
projects by 2022.
South Deep reviewed its home ownership support programme, identifying 
opportunities to enhance the performance of the home ownership 
scheme, amid increased take-up by employees. Following consultations 
with key stakeholders, a comprehensive Housing and Living Conditions 
Plan was submitted to the DMRE on 11 December 2020.

67%
33%
67%
33%
41%
12%
58%
21%
66%
17%
0.7%
75%

50%
20%
50%
20%
60%
25%
60%
25%
70%
30%
1.5%
60%

Invest percentage of leviable amount as defined 
in the HRD element in proportion to applicable 
demographics

N/A

Publish the SLP in two languages (dominant 
community language and English)
Implement all approved commitments in the SLP3

1:1 person to 
room ratio

Implement all commitments per the H&LCS

Mine to submit 
a Housing and 
Living Conditions 
Plan, in terms 
of Section 4 of 
the new H&LCS 
for the mining 
industry.

1 The column records the mining rights holder’s performance against the Mining Charter scorecard targets

2 The element has not been assured externally

3 Only the number of Community Development Commitments and its progress are externally assured

95

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP 

OVERVIEW

GOLD FIELDS 2021 BSC KPIs
•  Improve tailings management
•  Improve the security and efficiency of water use
•  Increase resilience to climate change
•  Optimise energy management

2025 ESG CHARTER TARGETS

Strategic priorities

Strategic intents

Pursuing decarbonisation 
and building resilience to 
climate change in line with 
our commitment to the Paris 
Agreement

(cid:96)

Continue pursuing carbon emissions 
reductions at all our operations

Increase Group renewable energy 
use and include at least 20% 
renewables in all new projects

Introduce electric vehicles in our 
underground operations

Reduce freshwater use and optimise 
Group water recycling and reuse 
levels

Full compliance with the 2020 
Global Industry Standard on 
Tailings Management

(cid:96)

Achieve and maintain compliance 
with the GISTM as committed to by 
ICMM members

Revegetated tailings dam, Damang, Ghana

ASSOCIATED GROUP RISKS

No

7

8

9

13

20

Risk
Safety
Safety and health of our employees, including 
occupational illnesses
Energy
Security of power supply and cost of energy
Climate change
Failure to implement climate change adaptation 
measures
Water
Water pollution, security and reduction in freshwater 
consumption
Ezulwini and Cooke 3, 2 and 1
Ezulwini and Cooke 3, 2 and 1 rewatering impact on 
South Deep

RELATED SDGs

Clean water and 
sanitation

Affordable and 
clean energy

Climate action

Life on land

Responsible consumption 
and production

TRADE-OFFS 
Our trade-offs refer to the difficult decisions made during the year in the context of resource scarcity. Below are some of the 
significant actions taken during a difficult year to do so:

•  Our mines depend on natural resources, particularly energy and water, and our use of these resources could potentially  

impact the neighbouring environment and communities

•  Significant investment is required to transition our mines to renewable energy sources, though there are energy security, 

costs and reduced carbon emissions benefits

•  We focus on water recycling and conservation to ensure sufficient supply of quality water to other stakeholders in the 

same catchment area

•  Our mines produce tailings and waste rock, which require responsible storage and recycling solutions

96

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

OVERVIEW 
Gold Fields is committed to sound 
environmental stewardship, and we 
aim to responsibly use the natural 
resources our business depends 
on, care for the environment in our 
operational and surrounding areas 
and limit the impact of our operations 
on our host communities. To guide 
this commitment, we developed five 
Group environment-related policy 
statements – on environmental 
stewardship, water stewardship, 
tailings management, materials and 
supply chain stewardship and climate 
change – which, together with mine 
closure, highlight our key focus areas. 
Our policy statements are further 
supported by six guidelines relating 
to environmental incident reporting, 
biodiversity, water management, 
tailings management, integrated 
mine closure, and energy and carbon 
management. Our Stakeholder 
Relationship and Engagement 
Policy Statement also commits us 
to engagement with communities 
and governments on environmental 
matters that could potentially 
impact them.

Our approach to environmental 
stewardship requires that we first and 
foremost consider local legislation 
and regulations, as well as relevant 
external standards. Additional local 
priorities are identified through 
stakeholder consultations. Our 
overriding policy guide is the Group 
Environment Policy Statement, which 
was updated and approved by the 
Board in February 2021. 

All our operations are certified to the 
ISO 14001 (2015) environmental 
management standard. Our newest 
mine, Gruyere in Western Australia, 
obtained certification to both 
the ISO 14001 standard and the 

International Cyanide Management 
Code (ICMC) during 2020. In South 
Africa, South Deep expanded the 
scope of its ISO 14001 certification 
to include underground operations 
in 2020. All our managed mines 
– except for Cerro Corona, which 
does not use cyanide – are currently 
certified to the ICMC, which assures 
their responsible handling and 
transportation of cyanide. While our 
operations are recertified every three 
years, as required by the code, we 
identify and address potential gaps 
on a continuous basis. 

In August 2020, Gold Fields formally 
committed to implementing the 
GISTM over a five-year period 
(see p103). 

During 2020, we launched our 
inaugural Company-wide EHS 
scorecard to ensure that our Group, 
regional and operational management 
teams are held accountable for 
successfully managing EHS issues. 
The scorecard includes both 
leading and lagging performance 
indicators to improve performance 
at an operational level. Pleasingly, 
all regions exceeded their target 
of an 80% score – a substantial 
achievement for the Group in 2020. 

Gold Fields recorded no serious 
environmental incidents (Level 3 – 5) 
during 2020. This is the second 
consecutive year we achieved 
this, signalling not only our sound 
environmental stewardship, but also 
the limited impact of our operations 
on neighbouring communities. 
Recording zero serious environmental 
incidents is a strategic priority for the 
Group and is included as a key target 
our management teams’ performance 
scorecards. 

As part of our 2020 reporting suite, we 
will publish our third CCR in alignment 
with the recommendations of the Task 
Force on Climate-related Financial 
Disclosures (TCFD) during April 2021. 
The report provides details on our 
journey towards a low-carbon future, 
including our climate change risks, 
vulnerabilities, strategies, governance 
practices and policies, as well as 
performance trends.

  When published, our 2020 CCR can be 
accessed on our website at https://
www.goldfields.com/2020-annual-
report-suite.php 

2020

GOLD FIELDS 2020 CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT

Aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure 
(TCFD)

www.goldfields.com

  Details of our energy management and 
climate change approach, policies and 
guidelines can also be found at  
https://www.goldfields.com/energy-and-
climate-change.php

  For details of our environmental 
management approach, policies and 
guidelines go to www.goldfields.com/
sustainability.php

In addition to the above, and 
continuing a downward trend 
from 2019, the number of Level 2 
environmental incidents decreased 
significantly by 68% to 12 in 2020 
(2019: 37). Of these incidents, eight 
related to loss of containment or 
spillage-type incidents (2019: 12), and 
three related to blasting and vibration 
(2019: 23). We managed to contain 
these incidents to our immediate 
mining footprint or vicinity, and the 
mitigating actions taken ensured the 
incidents resulted in limited to no 
environmental impact. 

97

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP CONTINUED

GROUP ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

Environmental incidents (Level 3 – 5)1
Environmental incidents (Level 2)1
Water withdrawal (Gℓ)
Freshwater withdrawal (Gℓ)
Water recycled/reused (% of total)
Electricity purchased (TWh)
Diesel consumption (TJ)
Scope 1 – 3 CO2 emissions (kt)2, 3
Mining waste and tailings (Mt)
Gross closure cost estimate (US$m)

2020

0
12
21.7
10.00
71
1.20
6,788
1,969
200
467

2019

0
37
22.3
14.2
68
1.25
6,973
1,941
189
436

2018

2
68
21.2
14.5
66
1.28
6,599
1,852
190
400

2017

2
83
33.0
14.8
57
1.37
6,765
1,959
212
381

2016

3
131
30.3
10.2
59
1.40
6,608
1,964
187
381

1   Level 1 and 2 environmental incidents involve minor incidents or non-conformances, with negligible or short-term limited impact. A Level 3 incident results 
in limited non-conformance or non-compliance with ongoing but limited environmental impact. Level 4 and 5 incidents include major non-conformances or 
non-compliances, which could result in long-term environmental harm, with company or operation-threatening implications and potential damage to company 
reputation. Our operations also align with all regulatory environmental reporting requirements in their countries of operation

2   The CO2 emission numbers include head offices and comprise Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions
3   Scope 1 emissions are those arising directly from sources managed by the Company, Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions generated in the production 

of electricity used by the Company, and Scope 3 emissions arise as a consequence of the activities of the Company

ESG PRIORITIES
During 2020, we initiated the process 
of developing our Group ESG Charter, 
which is driven by a cross-functional 
and multi-disciplinary team. Our 
strategic ESG priorities act as a 
guiding framework to creating impact 
in line with the Company’s vision of 
global leadership in sustainable gold 
mining. Environmental management 
is a critical component of this work.

Our key strategic priorities are 
to pursue decarbonisation in line 
with our commitment to the Paris 
Agreement (which commits us to 
carbon neutrality by 2050), build 
resilience to climate change and 
reduce our consumption of water. 
We aim to reduce our carbon 
emissions and freshwater use, as well 
as our exposure to climate-related 
risks to operations, stakeholders and 
the environment. The strategic intent 
underpinning these priorities are:
•  Continue pursuing reductions 
in carbon emissions at all our 
operations

•  Increase Group renewable energy 

use and include at least 20% 
renewables in all new projects
•  Introduce electric vehicles in 
our underground operations
•  Reduce freshwater use and 

optimise Group water recycling 
and reuse levels

We expect to disclose our 2025 ESG 
Charter targets during H2 2021.

BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
Our teams seek to address any 
potentially adverse impacts on the 
fauna and flora from our operations 
through specific mitigation measures, 

98

as well as integrated land and water 
management practices. Our efforts to 
mitigate the impact of climate change 
will also benefit the local environment.

Strict adherence to all relevant 
legal and permit requirements is a 
prerequisite, as is engagement with 
relevant local stakeholders. 

We continue to contribute to the 
conservation of biodiversity, by:
•  Neither mining nor exploring in 

World Heritage sites

•  Designing and operating our mines 
in a way that does not compromise 
the biodiversity values of any 
protected area

•  Striving for zero net loss of 

biodiversity for all new projects or 
major expansions on existing sites

Our commitment to biodiversity is 
evident at our Salares Norte project 
in the Andes Mountains in Chile’s 
Atacama region, where construction 
commenced during 2020. We 
are working with environmental 
specialists and biologists to ensure 
the protection of the Short-tailed 
Chinchillas, which is a protected 
species in Chile. We are doing so 
by establishing a compensation and 
conservation area away from the 
planned active mining and exploration 
zones, declaring no-go zones where 
we cannot operate or actively explore, 
and relocating a small fraction of 
the population of Chinchillas that 
live in future mining zones to a new 
location 5km away. At the same time, 
as part of government’s programme 
for protected species, we are 
using tools, such as camera traps, 
permanent electronic monitoring and 

genetic studies, to enhance baseline 
information and scientific knowledge 
of the Chinchilla. 

The Chinchilla capture and relocation 
process, which began in August 
2020, is a key aspect of the 
environmental approval for Salares 
Norte and requires that we capture 
and relocate the animals from future 
mining areas to temporary relocation 
zones before full release. Two of 
the four Chinchillas moved passed 
away at the relocation area, prior to 
their full release. The post-mortem 
analysis by independent experts 
recommended changes to future 
capture and relocation practices, 
which we are implementing together 
with environmental experts and in 
consultation with the regulator. 

As part of these improvements, 
the possibility of shortening the 
adaptation time in the temporary 
enclosures and releasing the animals 
when they are in optimum physical 
condition is being examined. The 
implementation of the new measures 
will allow for better preventive controls 
during the programme once the 
relocation activities resume. 

Should the regulator lift the temporary 
halt to all relocations in H1 2021, 
we expect to resume relocation only 
later in 2021 as the programme is 
paused during winter. While the 2021 
and 2022 construction progress will 
not be impacted by delays in the 
relocation programme beyond 2021, 
it could make longer-term planning of 
the project beyond those dates more 
complex.

 
Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

WATER MANAGEMENT 
Managing our water resources is 
critical to our Group, as water is 
not only a vital resource for our ore 
processing activities but is also 
essential to our host communities. 
Our Ghanaian operations and the 
Cerro Corona mine in Peru have 
ample water supply through rainfall 
in the country, while the four other 
countries in which we operate – 
South Africa, Chile and Australia – 
are water stressed. 

This is exacerbated by climate 
change, which affects our operations 
and communities in several ways 
– severe rainfall, shifts in rainfall 
patterns and prolonged droughts, 
among others. Apart from this, 
water scarcity or excessive rainfall 
can adversely impact our host 
communities, particularly where 
agriculture is an important economic 
activity. Managing our impacts on 
water catchment areas – by ensuring 
that we do not reduce the quality 
or volume of water in the areas 
surrounding our mines – is therefore 
key to maintaining our social licence 
to operate.

During 2020, we started 
implementing the Group’s 2020 – 
2025 Water Stewardship Strategy, 
which is supported by detailed 
regional water management plans. 
Our strategy comprises the following 
key pillars:

WATER WITHDRAWAL 

GL

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

3
.
0
3

0
.
3
3

2
.
1
2

3
.
2
2

7
.
1
2

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

•  Security of supply: We focus on 

understanding and securing water 
resources for the life-of-mine, as 
well as embedding water planning 
into operational management 
– thereby enabling informed 
management decisions – and 
updating water security risk profiles 
to support the sourcing of water 

•  Water efficiency: We aim to 

minimise demand for freshwater 
and optimise the use of water 
resources to prevent water supply 
shortfalls and prioritise supply to 
communities. We have made good 
progress to reduce freshwater 
withdrawal in Ghana, Peru and 
South Africa

•  Catchment area management: 
It is critical that Gold Fields 
manages external water risks to 
the business and our stakeholders 
in the water catchment areas in 
which we operate. In 2020, all 
regions assessed their impacts 
on catchment stakeholders in 
relation to water withdrawal, water 
discharges and potential sources 
of pollution. These assessments 
indicated that our operations 
do not have significant negative 
impacts on these stakeholders. 
Our operations are implementing 
formal water stewardship 
partnerships with stakeholders in 
their catchments, which we hope 
to complete by 2025

WATER WITHDRAWAL PER TONNE 
PROCESSED  
kl/t

1.2

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

9
8
.
0

6
9
.
0

4
6
.
0

9
5
.
0

9
4
.
0

GROUP PERFORMANCE 
Gold Fields spent US$25m on water 
management and projects during 
2020, compared with US$27m in 
2019. Of this, we spent just over 
US$10m (2019: US$12m) on 
maintenance and investments in 
water infrastructure. Our operations 
continue to invest in methods to 
improve their water management 
practices, including pollution 
prevention, recycling and water 
conservation initiatives.

In line with our approach to 
catchment management, we also 
invest in water infrastructure that 
benefits our host communities. 
This is most pronounced at our 
Cerro Corona mine in Peru where, 
since 2010, the mine has invested 
over US$5m in water-related 
projects, mostly in the nearby city 
of Hualgayoc. Last year, the local 
government initiated a US$6m 
programme to build almost 
2,000 micro-reservoirs to benefit 
39 villages and provide approximately 
5,000 small-scale farmers in the 
district with access to water. Gold 
Fields, supported by a number of 
government organisations, is the 
main funder of this programme and 
managing the construction activities. 
During 2020, 19 micro-reservoirs 
at the Cortaderas hamlet were 
completed as part of a successful 
pilot project for the programme.

WATER RECYCLED/REUSED AS 
PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL 

% 

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

9
5

7
5

6
6

8
6

1
7

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

1  Water withdrawal is the sum of all water drawn into Gold Fields’ operations from all sources (including surface water, groundwater, rainwater, water from 

another organisation or state/municipal provider) for any use at the mine
²  Recycled water is water/wastewater that is treated before being reused
3  Reused water is water/wastewater that is reused without treatment at the same operation

99

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP CONTINUED

Our water performance was a 
significant highlight for the Group 
during 2020. Not only did our total 
water withdrawal1 decline to 21.7GL 
(2019: 22.3GL), the Group also met 
its two key targets for the year: 
•  Reducing freshwater withdrawal by 
3% (0.4GL) from projected 2020 
demand (as per business plan) to 
14.9GL: Total freshwater withdrawal 
amounted to 9.97GL, a 35% 
reduction from 2019

•  Recycling or reusing at least to 66% 

of our total water consumption: 
In 2020, total water recycled or 
reused amounted to 54.2GL (2019: 
47.6GL), or 71%, which was well 
ahead of our target

We met both targets largely due 
to improvements implemented at 
Tarkwa, Cerro Corona and South 
Deep. At Tarkwa, process water is 
now reused for cooling at the power 
plant and for mixing explosives and 
certain chemicals. At Cerro Corona, 
which reuses more water during 
the dry season, water recycling or 
reuse increased because of lower 
rainfall during the year. At South 
Deep, treated sewage effluent, which 
was previously discharged into the 
Leeuspruit river, is now rerouted 
to a return water dam and used in 
the mining process. The mine also 
upgraded its potable water pipeline 
to reduce water losses.

We benchmark our water usage 
by participating in the CDP Water 
Disclosure programme, whose 
score is an indicator of a company’s 
commitment to transparency around 
its water risks and mitigating actions. 
During the 2020 assessment, 
we achieved an A ranking for the 
first time – one of only 106 high-
performing companies out of the 
more than 5,800 that were scored. 
Our previous rankings ranged from 
B to A-.

  For details of our water management 
approach, policies and guidelines, as 
well as our adoption of the ICMM Water 
Stewardship Position Statement, go to 
www.goldfields.com/sustainability.php

100

ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
CLIMATE CHANGE
Gold Fields is acutely aware of the 
severity of climate-related risks. 
Furthermore, we also understand the 
value of the opportunities available 
in a low-carbon future. The impacts 
of climate change are real and 
immediate, due to:
•  The long-term risks posed by 
climate change to the Group’s 
operations and surrounding 
communities

•  Increasing efforts to regulate 
carbon emissions in most of 
our jurisdictions

•  Taxes on non-renewable energy 

consumption increasingly imposed 
by governments

We are committed to the Paris 
Agreement and the journey towards 
a net-zero carbon future by limiting 
global warming to well below 2°C, 
preferably 1.5°C, by 2050. In 2018, 
Gold Fields became the first South 
African mining company to endorse 
the recommendations of the Financial 
Services Board’s TCFD. We published 
our first TCFD Report in 2019, which 
serves as our baseline to monitor our 
climate change-related performance. 
This report replaced previous 
submissions to the CDP (formerly the 
Carbon Disclosure Project), while we 
continue to submit an annual CDP 
Water report. 

We reviewed and updated our 
Climate Change Policy Statement in 
2020 and confirmed our compliance 
with both the 2019 ICMM Position 
Statement on Climate Change and 
the 2017 ICMM Position Statement 
on Water Stewardship. 

The risk of failure to implement 
climate adaptation measures remains 
among Gold Fields’ top 10 Group 
risks. We review our vulnerability to 
climate change every five years, and 
update Group-wide strategies and 
programmes in response. The next 
review is scheduled for 2021. 

ENERGY AND CARBON 
MANAGEMENT
Gold Fields’ operations are highly 
dependent on consistent energy 
supply. Our total energy spend 
during 2020 amounted to 16% of our 
Group operating costs. Appreciating 
the importance of energy security 
and cost management, in 2017 
our updated Energy Management 
Strategy set out a number of 
aspirational goals for 2020.

Gold Fields has an Energy and 
Carbon Management Strategy in 
place, supported by operational 
plans and targets that are aligned 
with the global ISO 50001 energy 
management standard. The purpose 
of these plans is to reduce energy 
consumption, energy costs and 
carbon emissions by, among others:
•  Switching from diesel-generated to 
cleaner gas-generated electricity
•  Increasing the use of renewables 

by our operations

•  Improving energy efficiencies and 

eliminating wastage

•  Rolling-out training and awareness 

programmes

By March 2020, our Cerro Corona, 
Damang and Tarkwa mines were 
certified to the ISO 50001 standard. 
We aim to have all our operations 
certified during 2021. 

2020 energy and carbon  
emission targets

Performance

Ensure that energy security is not one 
of the top 10 Group risks

Realise 5% – 10% energy savings off 
our annual energy plans each year

Achieve 80% of 800kt CO2e of 
cumulative carbon emission reductions 
between 2017 and 2020, equivalent to 
a 17% reduction in carbon emissions 
each year

Security of power supply and cost 
of energy is risk number eight in our 
Group risks

2,077TJ of energy savings for the 
period 2017 to 2020, equal to 4% of 
energy consumption for the period

639kt CO2e in carbon emissions 
reductions from 2017 to 2020

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

While energy efficiency initiatives 
have a dual benefit of improving 
energy productivity and reducing our 
carbon footprint, a number of our 
initiatives reduce our carbon footprint 
significantly without necessarily 
reducing our energy usage, such 
as fuel switching from diesel to gas, 
or from gas to renewable sources. 
We continue to implement energy 
efficiency initiatives, including:
•  Switching from diesel electricity 

to gas-generated and renewable 
energy

•  Optimising processes and systems 
•  Optimising compressed air systems 

and new ventilation fans and 
controls

•  Using high precision drill rigs to 

minimise rework

•  Using fuel additives and other 

business improvement initiatives 
to optimise equipment energy 
consumption

•  Using larger trucks to move more 
material with better fuel efficiencies

•  Retrofitting old light fittings with 
light-emitting diodes (LEDs)

RENEWABLE ENERGY
In our quest to strengthen security 
of affordable energy supply, reduce 
costs and decarbonise our energy 
sources, we successfully started 
integrating renewable energy into 
our energy supply mix. Two of our 
Australian mines, Agnew and Granny 
Smith, installed renewable microgrids 
and storage solutions during 2020. 
Our other mines are also exploring 
options to increase the renewable 
energy portion of their energy 
consumption.

Gold Fields has a long-term 
commitment of 20% renewables at all 
its new projects. This is being realised 
at our most recent mine, Gruyere, 
and the Salares Norte project in Chile, 
both of which signed contracts with 
independent power producers to 
provide solar energy. 

The percentage electricity from 
renewable sources for the Group 
was 3% at the end of 2020 (10% 
including a portion of hydro power at 
Cerro Corona). Based on our current 
estimates, we expect this to increase 
to 15% (21% including hydro power) 
by 2025, with renewables coming 
on stream at St Ives, South Deep, 
Gruyere and Salares Norte by then.

Most of our renewable plants are, 
or will be managed, by independent 
power producers, who recoup 
their capital investment via a long-
term supply agreement with our 
mines. Where funding from Gold 
Fields is required this is largely from 
operational cash-flow.

Australia
Agnew is our flagship renewables 
mine, and one of the first gold mines 
in the world to generate over half of its 
energy requirements from renewable 
sources. The mine completed its 
hybrid electricity plant during Q2 2020 
after the commissioning of five wind 
turbines. The A$113m (US$85m) 
microgrid – which comprises a 
3.5MW solar, 18MW wind and 
13MW battery energy storage 
system – provides, on average, 55% 
of Agnew’s energy requirements. 
However, this can increase to 70% 

GROUP ENERGY CONSUMPTION 
TJ

GROUP ENERGY SPEND AND SAVINGS 
US$m

16000

14000

12000

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

0

8
1
1

1
7
9
,
4

8
0
6
,
6

1
1
1

2
0
3
,
5

5
6
7
,
6

0
0
1

9
2
9
,
4

9
9
5
,
6

4
9

0
3
4
,
5

3
7
9
,
6

2
9

9
4
2
,
6

8
8
7
,
6

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

9
8
2

1
1

8
5
2

2
2

2
0
3

9
2

0
0
3

7
2

7
5
2

5
2

on a day with favourable weather 
conditions. We are in the process 
of evaluating further energy storage 
systems. 

Granny Smith’s hybrid storage 
system, comprising 8MW on-site 
solar, 2MW battery power systems 
and a gas power plant, is fully 
operational with 10% of the energy 
supply sourced from renewables. 
We made good progress on 
Gruyere’s 12MW solar plant, with 
commissioning scheduled for the end 
of 2021. At St Ives, we commenced 
a scoping study to evaluate supply 
alternatives once the current power 
agreement lapses in 2024. 

During 2020, about 8% of the 
region’s electricity requirements were 
met through renewables, with that 
percentage set to rise significantly 
over the next few years. Our 
investment in renewables was mostly 
responsible for the region’s 2020 
carbon emissions savings of 75kt 
CO2e, which was well ahead of target. 
South Africa
In February 2021, the National Energy 
Regulator of South Africa approved 
an electricity generation licence 
for a 40MW solar plant at South 
Deep. Once approved by the Board, 
construction of the plant is set to take 
a year. The solar plant will provide 
approximately 20% of South Deep’s 
electricity needs and could save the 
mine an estimated R120m a year. 

GROUP SCOPE 1 – 3 CO2e EMISSIONS 
Mt

6
9
.
2.0 1

6
9
.
1

5
8
.
1

4
9
.
1

7
9
.
1

5
4
.
0

7
9
.
0

9
4
.
0

8
8
.
0

8
4
.
0

8
7
.
0

8
4
.
0

1
8
.
0

2
5
.
0

3
7
.
0

4
5
.
0

9
5
.
0

8
5
.
0

5
6
.
0

2
7
.
0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

(cid:132) Diesel (cid:132) Electricity (cid:132) Other fuels

(cid:132) Total (cid:132) Savings

(cid:132) Scope 1 (cid:132) Scope 2 (cid:132) Scope 3

101

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP CONTINUED

Chile
We are developing a 26MW hybrid 
solar and thermal power solution 
for the Salares Norte project. We 
aim to have this functional once the 
operation starts production in early 
2023. Diesel generators will provide 
16MW and the solar unit 10MW of 
power, which is set to save the mine 
over US$7m in energy costs over the 
first 10 years, as well as US$1m in 
carbon tax offsets.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE 
PERFORMANCE
Overall energy spend reduced by 
15% during 2020 to US$257m (2019: 
US$300m), mainly due to lower oil 
prices in response to decreased 
demand. Total energy spend, which 
combines the Group’s electricity and 
fuel spend, amounted to 16% of total 
operating costs in 2020, down from 
20% in 2019. This represents 12% 
of AISC (2019: 17%) and translates 
to AISC of US$110/oz (US$136/
oz). Gold Fields made a net loss 
of US$12m on oil price hedges 
during 2020, as the price of oil on 
international markets decreased more 
than anticipated. 

Total energy consumption increased 
by 5% to 13,129TJ compared with 
12,498TJ in 2019. This is mainly 
due to increased on-site electricity 
generation in Australia, with Gruyere 
operating for a full year for the first 
time, higher gas consumption in 
Ghana and increased renewable 
energy generation in Australia. The 

energy mix is made up of 52% 
haulage diesel, 48% electricity and 
less than 1% of other fuels. Energy 
intensity remained largely unchanged 
at 5.64GJ/oz (2019: 5.67GJ/oz). 

We achieved energy savings of 
1,085TJ in 2020 (2019: 405TJ), 
resulting in long-term cost savings 
of US$25m, equivalent to US$11/
oz. Since the launch of our Energy 
and Carbon Management Strategy 
in 2017, Gold Fields has realised 
cumulative energy savings of 2,077TJ 
(4% of energy consumption during 
this period), resulting in a cost saving 
of US$144m.

Emissions performance
Our carbon emissions performance 
mirrors our operations’ energy use 
trends. Total Scope 1 – 3 CO2e 
emissions during 2020 amounted to 
1.969Mt, an increase from 1.941Mt 
in 2019 – reflecting higher production 
at our Australian operations as a 
result of the inclusion of Gruyere for 
a full year. Emission intensity, which 
is measured using only Scope 1 
and 2 emissions, remained static at 
0.66t CO2e/oz for 2017 to 2019, and 
reduced to 0.62t CO2e/oz in 2020.

In 2016, we set ourselves an 
aspirational target of reducing 
cumulative carbon emission by 800kt 
CO2e between 2017 and 2020. We 
reached 80% of this target by the 
end of 2020, of which 230kt CO2e 
were achieved in 2020 as a result of 
the above mentioned energy savings 
initiatives.

TAILINGS MANAGEMENT
At end-2020, our 11 operations 
– including our three JV sites, 
being Asanko in Ghana, Gruyere in 
Australia and FSE in the Philippines – 
contained 37 TSFs, of which 12 were 
active and one under construction. 
Of the 12 active TSFs, we have two 
in-pit TSFs (Agnew and St Ives), six 
downstream/centre-line TSFs, and 
four upstream TSFs.

Our mines in Australia and South 
Africa are located in relatively dry 
regions, and limited amounts of 
supernatant water are stored in the 
facilities. This significantly improves 
their overall performance and 
integrity. In Ghana, the Tarkwa and 
Damang TSFs are designed in line 
with industry best practices. We have 
implemented critical controls and 
performance objectives to ensure 
that the TSF embankments remain 
stable throughout both the wet and 
dry seasons and over the life of 
the facilities. Our technical teams 
continue to work with Galiano Gold, 
which manages Asanko, to maintain 
the good operational performance of 
the lined and downstream-raised TSF.

The Lepanto TSF located in the 
Philippines is well managed, with 
no visible signs of instability and 
adequate freeboard. No safety 
incidents associated with the 
project have occurred to date. The 
TSF is located in a region prone to 
high seismic activity and frequent 
typhoons. As a result, Gold Fields 
and Lepanto Mining commissioned 
external consultants to develop 

Solar farm and wind turbines, Agnew, Australia

102

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2020

OUR PERFORMANCE

a more reliable risk profile of the 
Lepanto TSF, along with potential risk 
control measures that could further 
improve the facility’s risk profile. We 
expect an independent summary from 
the consultant in Q1 2021. 

Total tailings depositions increased 
by 20% in 2020 from 2019, totalling 
59Mt. This increase is mostly due to 
our Gruyere mine producing for a full 
year for the first time. 

  A detailed profile of Gold Fields’ TSFs can 
be found on our website at www.goldfields.
com/environment-tsf.php

GISTM
The global mining industry’s TSFs 
are in the spotlight following several 
tailings dam failures over the past few 
years – particularly the catastrophic 
tailings collapse at Vale’s Feijão iron 
ore mine in Brumadinho, Brazil, in 
January 2019, which resulted in the 
deaths of 270 people. 

After the Brumadinho tragedy, 
ICMM members, along with the UN 
Environment Programme and UN 
Principles for Responsible Investment, 
convened an independent panel of 
experts to develop a new international 
standard for TSFs. Accordingly, the 
GISTM was launched on 5 August 
2020, thereby establishing a widely 
accepted global standard on tailings 
management that can be applied 
to both existing and future TSFs. 
The GISTM covers the entire tailings 
facility lifecycle – from project 
conception to post-closure – and 
strengthens current mining industry 
practices by integrating social, 
environmental, local economic and 
technical considerations. 

All ICMM members, including Gold 
Fields, have committed to ensure 
that all TSFs with “extreme” or “very 
high” consequence category ratings 
comply with the GISTM by 5 August 
2023. All other tailings facilities that 
are not in a state of safe closure will 
conform to the GISTM by 5 August 
2025. Soon after the launch in 
August 2020, we commenced a 
detailed, site-specific analysis of each 
TSF against the GISTM to identify 
gaps and confirm our compliance 

roadmap. We expect to complete this 
work by mid-2021 and will then start 
towards closing any identified gaps.

TSF GOVERNANCE AND TECHNICAL 
OVERSIGHT
As required by the GISTM, Gold 
Fields’ Board approved a new TSF 
Management Policy Statement 
in 2020. We believe this policy 
statement demonstrates our 
commitment to:
•  Safe and responsible management 

of tailings with the aim of zero 
fatalities and catastrophic failures

•  Allocate appropriate resources 

to support tailings management 
activities

•  Implement effective governance 

over tailings management
•  Cultivate an organisational 

culture that promotes learning, 
communication and early 
recognition of problems relating 
to TSFs

•  Emergency preparedness and 

post-incident recovery should a 
failure occur

•  Implement a tailings safety review 
process, including independent 
reviews

All Gold Fields’ active TSFs are 
subject to a comprehensive third-
party review every three years, 
covering operational and legal 
aspects, as well as sustainable 
development. These reviews are also 
used to ensure ongoing compliance 
of our operations with our Group 
TSF Management Guideline and 
applicable design guidelines. 
As required, facilities that have 
an “extreme” consequence rating 
are subject to annual third-party 
operational reviews.

We retain an Engineer of Record 
(EoR) for all of our active sites. The 
role of EoR is filled by a suitably 
qualified external engineer, who 
is supported by the consulting 
engineering company they work for. 
EoRs are responsible for reviewing 
and approving all engineering and 
design data, associated operating 

and monitoring procedures, as-built 
drawings and facility inspections to 
confirm physical integrity, safety, and 
ancillary structures’ performance. 

The most recent round of 
independent external audits 
commenced at the end of 2019 and 
was completed by mid-2020. These 
reviews, the most comprehensive 
external audit of our TSFs, concluded 
that the operations and management 
of all TSFs are in line with recognised 
industry tailings management and 
safety practices.

Gold Fields’ Board continued to 
strengthen its oversight of the Group’s 
TSFs by introducing quarterly TSF 
management reports, progressive 
implementation of real-time 
environmental and geotechnical 
monitoring, and increased external 
and independent verification. We 
also embarked on a programme 
to further improve the operational 
safety of our TSFs including, where 
practical, consideration of filtered 
and dry-stacked tailings, improved 
water management and in-pit tailings 
disposal. These initiatives are also 
the subject of work at the ICMM to 
improve critical TSF controls and 
reduce tailings water content.

Gold Fields has been progressively 
implementing several technical 
improvements to its TSFs and is 
increasingly using tools linked to 
cloud-based dashboard systems 
that enable real-time monitoring 
and analysis of responses and 
measurements.

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ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP CONTINUED

WASTE MANAGEMENT 
Process plant tailings waste 
and waste rock are two of the 
most significant by-products 
produced by mines. By responsibly 
managing these waste streams, 
we can minimise their impact on 
the environment and our host 
communities. 

In terms of general waste, we have 
an internal target to limit waste 
generated for disposal at landfill 
sites to 2015 levels, which totalled 
11.2kt. In 2020, we generated 9.5kt 
in non-hazardous waste and 1.7kt 
in hazardous waste – 11.2kt in total, 
thereby meeting our target. During 
2020, Gold Fields recycled 60% of all 
non-mineralised waste generated in 
2020, compared with 50% in 2019. 
Waste such as plastic, scrap metal, 
oils and hydrocarbons are recycled 
off-site by specialist recyclers. 

GROUP MINING WASTE 
Mt

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

8
4
1

9
3

1
7
1

1
4

9
4
1

1
4

1
4
1

8
4

1
4
1

1
9
5

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

(cid:132) Waste rock (cid:132) Tailings

¹   The increase in tailings from 2019 is due to 
Gruyere operating for the full year for the 
first time

MINE CLOSURE 
As the closure landscape changes, 
regulations relating to mine closure 
are increasingly stringent, with 
governments becoming more risk 
averse. Stakeholder expectations, as 
well as scrutiny from regulators and 
NGOs, are also increasing. This is 
particularly relevant for the industry’s 
closure performance and how 
companies disclose costs associated 
with mine closure. 

The ability of mining companies to 
responsibly close their operations 
is critical to their social licence 
to operate, both individually and 
collectively. To this end, Gold Fields 
has strengthened its approach to 
closure liabilities over time by requiring 
operations to:
•  Regularly review and update their 
closure plans in accordance with 
ICMM-aligned Group closure 
guidance

•  Develop rigorous closure cost 

estimates, which are then internally 
and externally reviewed annually
•  Set annual performance targets for 
their progressive rehabilitation plans

During 2020, the Group maintained 
its focus on progressive rehabilitation 
– the implementation of closure 
activities during the construction and 
operation of a mine – although some 
activities were materially disrupted 
by Covid-19-related restrictions. 
Progressive rehabilitation includes 
remediation of contaminated areas, 
decommissioning and removal of 
redundant infrastructure, landform 
reshaping, rehabilitation, revegetation 
and in-pit tailings disposal. The Group 
achieved an average of 93% of the 
measures set in the rehabilitation 
plans for 2020, ahead of target. 

Substantive rehabilitation projects 
undertaken during 2020 included 
the rehabilitation of the Damang TSF, 
backfilling the St Ives Diana pit and 
rehabilitation trials at Gruyere. 

Gold Fields’ total gross mine closure 
liability increased by 7% to US$467m 
in 2020, largely due to the impact of 
currency fluctuations (US$19m) and 
additional closure requirements at 
Cerro Corona (US$10m). The regional 
breakdown is provided in the table 
below:

Group closure 
estimates 
(US$m)

Australia1, 2, 3 

West Africa

Americas4

South Africa

Group total

2020

2019

219

104

100

44

467

198

106

87

46

436

1   Due to legislative changes introduced in 

Western Australia, there is no longer a legal 
obligation to have unconditional performance 
bonds in place for mine closure liabilities. Such 
liabilities for continuing operations are now 
self-funding. In addition, companies are now 
required to pay a levy to the state based on 
the total mine closure liability. This levy is 1% 
of the total liability per mine, paid annually. 
This levy goes into a state administered 
fund known as the Mine Rehabilitation Fund. 
Capital and interest from the fund will be used 
to rehabilitate legacy sites or sites that have 
prematurely closed or been abandoned

2   Includes 50% of the total Gruyere closure cost 

estimate

3   Exchange rate fluctuations between 2019 

and 2020 resulted in a material change in the 
Australia closure cost estimate. In Australian 
Dollar terms, the actual year-on-year increase 
was marginal (A$282m to A$284m)

4   Includes US$2m Salares Norte footprint 

disturbance cost estimate

The funding methods used in each 
region to make provision for the mine 
closure cost estimates are:
•  Peru – bank guarantees
•  Australia – existing cash and 

resources1

•  Ghana – reclamation security 

agreements and bonds 
underwritten by banks, along with 
restricted cash

•  South Africa – contributions into 
environmental trust funds and 
guarantees

104

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2020

ASSURANCE

Tailings dam, Cerro Corona, Peru

Internal and external assurance is provided over selected sustainability 
information contained in the Integrated Annual Report 

ASSURANCE

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

FIRST PARTY: INTERNAL AUDIT 
STATEMENT P106
INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE 
STATEMENT TO THE BOARD OF 
DIRECTORS AND STAKEHOLDERS OF 
GOLD FIELDS LIMITED P107 – 109
ASSURED SUSTAINABILITY 
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 
P110 
ASSURED SOUTH AFRICAN 
MINING CHARTER PERFORMANCE 
INDICATORS P111
ADMINISTRATION AND CORPORATE 
INFORMATION P112

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2020

FIRST PARTY: INTERNAL AUDIT STATEMENT

Gold Fields Internal Audit (GFIA) provides independent assurance on the effectiveness of the governance, risk management 
and control processes within Gold Fields to the Group Audit Committee.

The internal audit activities performed during the year were identified through a combination of the Gold Fields risk 
management and combined assurance framework, as well as the risk-based methodology adopted by GFIA. Internal Audit 
complies with the Institute of Internal Auditors’ International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, in 
the execution of its assurance function. Furthermore, GFIA operates a quality assurance programme that involves performing 
detailed quality review assessments. In 2020, GFIA underwent an External Quality Assurance and was found to be generally 
complaint with the International Professional Practices Framework as well as the Code of Ethics as prescribed by the 
Institute of Internal Auditors.

Annually, the risk-based annual audit plan is approved by the Audit Committee. The internal audit activities are executed by 
a team of appropriately qualified and experienced internal auditors, or through the engagement of external practitioners on 
specified and agreed terms. The Vice-President and Group Head of Internal Audit has a functional reporting line to the Audit 
Committee, to which quarterly feedback is provided.

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in travel restrictions to Gold Fields’ operations, which led to GFIA adjusting its approach, 
objectives and scope on a number of audit activities, to continue meeting its audit mandate.

Based on the work performed by GFIA during the year, the Vice-President and Group Head of Internal Audit has presented 
the Audit Committee with an assessment on the effectiveness of the Company’s governance, risk management and system 
of internal control. It is GFIA’s opinion that the governance, risk management and internal control environment are effective 
within the Gold Fields business and provide reasonable assurance that the objectives of Gold Fields will be achieved. This 
GFIA assessment forms one of the basis for the Audit Committee’s recommendation in this regard to the Board.

Shyam Jagwanth
Vice-President and Group Head of Internal Audit
Johannesburg, South Africa

31 March 2021

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2020

ASSURANCE

INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE STATEMENT TO THE BOARD OF 
DIRECTORS AND STAKEHOLDERS OF GOLD FIELDS LIMITED

ERM Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd (ERM) was engaged by Gold Fields to provide reasonable assurance in relation to selected 
sustainability information set out below and presented in Gold Fields’ 2020 Integrated Annual Report for the year ended 
31 December 2020 (the Report).

Engagement summary

Engagement 
scope (subject 
matters): 

1. Whether the 2020 data, for the period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020, for the selected 
performance indicators listed in Tables 1 and 2 overleaf, are fairly presented, in all material 
respects, with the reporting criteria

2. Whether the Directors’ statement in the “About this Report” section of the Report that Gold 
Fields has complied with the International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM) Sustainable 
Development Framework, Principles, Position Statements and reporting requirements is, in 
all material respects, fairly stated

For environmental, health and safety and social indicators:
•  GRI Standards (‘Core’ in-accordance option) and the GRI’s Mining and Metals Sector Disclosure 

(2013)

•  Gold Fields GRI Standards Sustainability Reporting Guideline, V26 (November 2020)
•  Gold Fields Group Protocol for Energy and Carbon Performance Data Management, V3 

(October 2020)

•  Gold Fields Group Health and Safety Reporting Guideline, V6 (January 2019)
•  Guidance on Host Community Procurement Spend and Job Creation, V1.2 (January 2020)
•  ICMM Sustainable Development Framework Reporting Requirements (2008)

Reporting 
criteria: 

For Mining Charter-related indicators:
•  Gold Fields Limited South Deep Gold Mine Non-Financial Data Assurance Reporting Guidelines, 

V6 (January 2021)

•  Gold Fields Limited South Deep Gold Mine Procurement Mining Charter 2018 Reporting 

Guideline, V2 (January 2021)

•  Gold Fields Limited South Deep Gold Mine Local Economic Development Progress Monitoring 

Procedure, V0 (April 2020)

•  Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter (BBSEEC) for the South African Mining 

and Minerals Industry (2018) and the related scorecard (2018)

•  Implementation Guidelines for the BBSEEC for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry 

(2018)

Assurance 
standard used:

ERM CVS’ assurance methodology based on the International Standard on Assurance 
Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised) and ISAE 3410 (for GHG Statements)

Assurance level:

Reasonable assurance for all subject matters

Respective 
responsibilities:

Gold Fields is responsible for preparing the Report, including the collection and presentation of the 
selected sustainability information within it, in accordance with the reporting criteria, the design, 
implementation and maintenance of related internal controls, and for the integrity of its website.  
ERM’s responsibility is to provide an opinion on the selected information based on the evidence 
we have obtained and exercising our professional judgement.

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2020

INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE STATEMENT TO THE BOARD OF 
DIRECTORS AND STAKEHOLDERS OF GOLD FIELDS LIMITED 

CONTINUED

OUR ASSURANCE ACTIVITIES  
We planned and performed our work to obtain all the information and explanations that we believe were necessary to 
reduce the risk of material misstatement to low, and therefore provide a basis for our assurance opinion. Using the ICMM 
Sustainable Development Framework: Assurance Procedure (2008) as a guide, a multi-disciplinary team of sustainability, 
Mining Charter and assurance specialists performed the assurance activities, including, among others:
•  Reviewing external media reporting relating to Gold Fields, peer company annual reports and industry standards to identify 

issues relevant to the assurance scope in the reporting period

•  Interviews with relevant corporate-level staff to understand Gold Fields’ sustainability strategy, policies and management 

systems, including stakeholder engagement and materiality assessment

•  Interviews with a selection of staff and management, including senior executives, to gain an understanding of:

 – The status of implementation of the ICMM Sustainable Development Principles in Gold Fields’ strategy and policies
 – Gold Fields’ identification and management of sustainable development risks and opportunities as determined through 

its review of the business and the views and expectations of its stakeholders

•  Reviewing supporting evidence related to external stakeholder engagement on material issues facing the business
•  Reviewing policies and procedures and assessing alignment with ICMM’s 10 Sustainable Development Principles and 

other mandatory requirements set out in the ICMM’s Position Statements in effect as at 31 December 2020

•  Testing the processes and systems, including internal controls, used to generate, consolidate and report the selected 

sustainability and Mining Charter information

•  Reviewing the suitability of the internal reporting guidelines, including conversion factors used
•  Physical visit to interview responsible staff and verify source data and other evidence at the following site: 

 – Gruyere, Australia 

•  Remote reviews to verify source data for the following sites: 

 – Damang, Ghana
 – Tarkwa, Ghana
 – Agnew, Australia
 – Granny Smith, Australia
 – St Ives, Australia
 – Cerro Corona, Peru
 – South Deep, South Africa

•  An analytical review of the year-end data submitted by the sites listed above, and testing of the accuracy and 

completeness of the consolidated 2020 Group data for the selected indicators

•  Reviewing the presentation of information relevant to the scope of our work in the Report to ensure consistency with 

our findings 

OUR ASSURANCE OPINION
In our opinion:
•  The selected sustainability performance information set out in Tables 1 and 2 for the year ended 31 December 2020 is 

prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Gold Fields reporting criteria

•  The Directors’ statement in the “About this Report” section of the Report that Gold Fields has complied with the ICMM 
Sustainable Development Framework, Principles, Position Statements and reporting requirements is, in all material 
respects, fairly stated

THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR ENGAGEMENT
The reliability of the assured data is subject to inherent uncertainties given the methods for determining, calculating or 
estimating the underlying information. It is important to understand our assurance opinions in this context. Our independent 
assurance statement provides no assurance on the maintenance and integrity of the Gold Fields’ website, including controls 
used to achieve this integrity, and in particular, whether any changes may have occurred to the information since it was first 
published.

FORCE MAJEURE – COVID-19
As a result of travel restrictions arising from the current global pandemic, we were unable to carry out our assurance 
activities as originally planned and agreed with Gold Fields. In-person visits to operations and the head office were 
replaced with remote reviews via teleconference and video calls for this year’s assurance engagement. While we believe 
these changes do not affect our reasonable assurance opinions above, we draw attention to the possibility that if we had 
undertaken in-person visits we may have identified errors and omissions in the assured information that we did not discover 
through the alternative approach.

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ASSURANCE

OUR OBSERVATIONS
We have provided Gold Fields with a separate detailed management report. Without affecting the opinion presented above, 
we have the following observations: 
•  Operations across all regions were found to have improved adherence to the measurement, verification and reporting 

requirements for energy saving initiatives, as recommended by ERM in last year’s Assurance Statement, although there is 
an opportunity to improve the accuracy of site-level information for selected Australian operations by consistently applying 
the most updated local energy conversion and emission factors used to calculate energy savings initiatives

•  There have been improvements in strengthening documentation and formalising the consolidation and reporting process 
of selected social performance information across the Australian region, although consistent with ERM’s recommendation 
in last year’s Assurance Statement, we recommend giving attention to strengthening the documentation and consolidation 
of host community workforce employment information, specifically for contractors, at selected Australian operations 

Clémence McNulty  
Engagement Partner, ERM Southern Africa  

Beth Wyke 
Review Partner, ERM CVS, Philadelphia

29 March 2021  

29 March 2021 

ERM Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg, South Africa
www.erm.com 
Email: clemence.mcnulty@erm.com

ERM Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd and ERM Certification and Verification Services (CVS) are members of the ERM Group. Our 
work complies with the requirements of ERM’s Global Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (available at https://erm.com/
global-code). Further, ERM CVS is accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and its operating system is 
designed to comply with ISO 17021:2011. Our assurance processes are designed and implemented to ensure that the 
work we undertake with clients is free from bias and conflict of interest (refer to both the abovementioned Code of Business 
Conduct and Ethics, and the ERM CVS Independence and Impartiality Policy available at http://www.ermcvs.com/our-
services/policies/independence/). The ERM and ERM CVS staff that have undertaken work on this assurance engagement 
provide no consultancy related services to Gold Fields in any respect related to the subject matter assured.

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2020

ASSURED SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Table 1. Selected sustainability performance indicators for the 2020 reporting year presented for reasonable 
assurance in accordance with the reporting criteria. 

Unit

Gold Fields reported 
2020 data

Parameter

Environment

Total CO2 equivalent emissions, Scope 1 – 3
Electricity purchased

Diesel

Total energy consumed

Total water consumed (withdrawal – discharge)

Total water recycled/re‐used per annum

Number of environmental incidents: Level 3 and above

Total CO2 equivalent emissions avoided from initiatives
Total energy saved from initiatives

Occupational health

Number of cases of Silicosis reported

Number of cases of Noise-induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) reported 

Tonnes

MWh

Kl

GJ

Ml

Ml

Number of incidents

tCO2e saved
GJ saved

Number of cases

Number of cases

Number of new cases of Cardio Respiratory Tuberculosis (CRTB) reported

Number of new cases reported

Number of cases of Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease (COAD)

Number of cases

Health

Number of cases of Malaria tested positive per annum (employees and 
contractors)

Number of positive cases

Number of South African employees in the HAART programme (cumulative)

Number of employees

Number of West African employees in the highly-active anti-retroviral therapy 
(HAART) programme (cumulative)

Percentage of South African workforce on the voluntary counselling and testing 
(VCT) programme

Percentage of West African workforce on the VCT programme

Number of employees

Percentage of workforce

Percentage of workforce

Safety

Total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) – employees,  
contractors, total

Number of TRIs/manhours

Serious injuries:  
As per Gold Fields Group Health and Safety Reporting requirements 

Serious injuries:  
As per the South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy 
requirements (applicable to South Deep mine only)

Near-miss incidents

Social

Total socio-economic development (SED) spend

Percentage of host community workforce employment

Percentage of host community procurement spend

Number of injuries

Number of injuries

Number of incidents

US$

%

%

110

1,969,305

1,196,585

184,701

13,128,575

19,780

54,207

0

229,986

1,085,328

10

3

13

3

412

657

10

70%

21%

Employees: 2.91 
(45 TRIs/15,446,600 
manhours)

Contractors: 2.13  
(62 TRIs/29,117,748 
manhours)

Total: 2.40 
(107 TRIs/44,564,347 
manhours)

6 (including 2 at  
South Deep)

9

475

$17,189,125

53%

29%

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

ASSURANCE

ASSURED SOUTH AFRICAN MINING CHARTER PERFORMANCE 
INDICATORS 

Table 2. Selected South African Mining Charter performance indicators for the 2020 reporting year presented 
for reasonable assurance in accordance with reporting criteria.

67%

33%

67%

33%

35%

6%

56%

20%

69%

21%

0.49%

76%

Unit

Gold Fields reported 2020 data

Number of projects

Progress to date

Total: 9 
Active: 7
Average progress for 9 projects: 48% 
Average progress for 7 active 
projects: 59%

Parameter

Mine community development

Percentage implementation of Mine Community Development Projects 
in approved and published Social and Labour Plan (SLP) (“Table S”1)2

Employment equity

HDSAs3 in management (in proportion to applicable demographics) 
made up of:

Board: 50% black persons with exercisable voting rights,  
of which 20% must be black women

Executive/top management: 50% black persons  
of which 15% must be black women

Senior: 50% black persons of which 15% must be black women

Middle: 60% black persons of which 20% must be black women

Junior: 70% black persons of which 25% must be black women

Board: Percentage black persons

Board: Percentage black women

Exec: Percentage black persons

Exec: Percentage black women

Senior: Percentage black persons

Senior: Percentage black women

Middle: Percentage black persons

Middle: Percentage black women

Junior: Percentage black persons

Junior: Percentage black women

Employees with disabilities: 1.5% as a percentage of all employees

Disabilities: Percentage 

Core/critical skills: 50% black persons

Core skills: Percentage

Inclusive procurement

Mining goods

70% of procurement spend on goods (excluding non-discretionary spend) must be on South African manufactured goods, proportioned as follows 
regarding the manufacturing entity:

21% by HDPs4 owned and controlled company

5% by women or by young owned and controlled company

44% by BEE-compliant company

Mining services

Percentage procured from HDPs 
owned and controlled company

Percentage women OR by young 
owned and controlled company 

Percentage procured from BEE-
compliant company

31%

5%

48%

80% of procurement spend on services (excluding non-discretionary spend) must be sourced from South African companies, proportioned as follows:

50% on HDP-owned and controlled company

15% on women-owned and controlled company

5% on youth

10% on BEE-compliant company

Research and Development (R&D) budget spent of which 70% must be 
spent on South African-based R&D entities

Mineral sampling to be done by South African-based companies 
(Target of 100%)

Percentage discretionary spend 
on HDPs owned and controlled 
company

Percentage discretionary spend 
on women owned and controlled 
company 

Percentage discretionary spend 
on youth

Percentage discretionary spend on 
BEE compliant company

% of spend on R&D entities

R-value of spend

Number of samples analysed

% analysed by South African-
based companies

1  As per the Implementation Guidelines for the BBSEEC for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry (2018)
2  Only seven of the nine projects were active for the 2020 reporting period
3  Historically Disadvantaged South African
4  Historically Disadvantaged Persons
5  Black Economic Empowerment

47%

16%

0%

85%

100%

R2,437,080

28,526

99.95%

111

Gold Fields Integrated 
Annual Report

2020

ADMINISTRATION AND CORPORATE INFORMATION

CORPORATE SECRETARY
Anré Weststrate
Tel: +27 11 562 9719
Fax: +086 720 2704
email: anré.weststrate@goldfields.com

REGISTERED OFFICE
Johannesburg
Gold Fields Limited
150 Helen Road
Sandown
Sandton
2196

Postnet Suite 252
Private Bag X30500
Houghton
2041

Tel: +27 11 562 9700
Fax: +27 11 562 9829

OFFICE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM SECRETARIES
London
St James’s Corporate Services Limited
Suite 31, Second Floor
107 Cheapside
London
EC2V 6DN
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7796 8644
email: general@corpserv.co.uk

AMERICAN DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS TRANSFER AGENT
Shareholder correspondence should be mailed to:
BNY Mellon
PO Box 505000
Louisville, KY 40233 – 5000

Overnight correspondence should be sent to:
BNY Mellon
462 South 4th Street, Suite 1600
Louisville, KY40202
email: shrrelations@cpushareownerservices.com

Phone numbers
Tel: 888 269 2377 Domestic
Tel: 201 680 6825 Foreign

SPONSOR
J.P. Morgan Equities South Africa Proprietary Limited
1 Fricker Road
Illovo, Johannesburg 2196
South Africa

Gold Fields Limited
Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa
Registration number 1968/004880/06
Share code: GFI
Issuer code: GOGOF
ISIN: ZAE 000018123

INVESTOR ENQUIRIES
Avishkar Nagaser
Tel: +27 11 562 9775
Mobile: +27 82 312 8692
email: avishkar.nagaser@goldfields.com

Thomas Mengel
Tel: +27 11 562 9849
Mobile: +27 72 493 5170
email: thomas.mengel@goldfields.com

MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Sven Lunsche
Tel: +27 11 562 9763
Mobile: +27 83 260 9279
email: sven.lunsche@goldfields.com

TRANSFER SECRETARIES
South Africa
Computershare Investor Services (Proprietary) Limited
Rosebank Towers
15 Biermann Avenue
Rosebank
Johannesburg
2196
PO Box 61051
Marshalltown
2107

Tel: +27 11 370 5000
Fax: +27 11 688 5248

United Kingdom
Link Asset Services
The Registry
34 Beckenham Road
Beckenham
Kent BR3 4TU
England

Tel: 0371 664 0300

If you are outside the United Kingdom please call  
(0) 371 664 0300

Calls are charged at the standard geographic rate and will 
vary by provider. Calls outside the United Kingdom will be 
charged at the applicable international rate. Business is 
open between 09:00 – 17:30, Monday to Friday excluding 
public holidays in England and Wales.

email: shareholderenquiries@linkgroup.co.uk

LISTINGS
JSE/NYSE/GFI

Directors: C A Carolus (Chair), N J Holland†** (Chief Executive Officer – 
retired as from 31 March 2021), P A Schmidt** (Chief Financial Officer), 
A Andani#, P J Bacchus†, T P Goodlace, C E Letton^, S P Reid^,  
P G Sibiya, Y G H Suleman.

C I Griffith** (Chief Executive Officer – as from 1 April 2021).

^Australian,  †British,  #Ghanaian,  **Executive Director

www.goldfields.com

112

www.goldfields.com