Gold Fields Ltd. shareholders getting impatient over the company’s failure to stem losses at the huge South Deep deposit in South Africa shouldn’t lose hope, said Chief Executive Officer Nick Holland.
Gold Fields said in August it’s embarking on yet another turnaround plan at the operation, its only one left in South Africa. South Deep’s disappointing performance has been a drag on the company for years and management is aware that investors are getting fed up, Holland said in an interview.
“They are now very impatient, and one can understand it but I think we need to calmly look where we are and evaluate the best way forward,” he said.
“There is a large resource base there, it’s well-drilled and we have spent a lot on infrastructure development costs. We are not far away, we just need more time.”“We are not far away, we just need more time.”
South Deep is the world’s second-largest known body of gold-bearing ore but output targets have been repeatedly missed. The company has sunk more than 9 billion rand ($620 million) into the mine in addition to the 22 billion rand it paid to buy the asset in 2006.
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