South Deep Fatality

JOHANNESBURG, May 27, 2014 /CNW/ - Gold Fields Ltd. (Gold Fields) (JSE, NYSE, NASDAQ Dubai: GFI) regrets to announce that an employee at the South Deep Project in South Africa this morning lost his life in an industrial-type accident in an underground satellite workshop at the mine.

This is the second fatal accident of a similar nature at South Deep over the past 10 days. The previous incident, in which one employee lost his life, was also an industrial-type accident, and occurred on Saturday, 17 May 2014.

The relevant authorities have been notified and all activities in the affected area have been suspended pending an inspection by management and the authorities.

Nick Holland, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields, said: "Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased. Management will do everything possible to support them in this hour of need."

"We are deeply shocked by these tragic incidents as they follow a period of more than three years in which the mine had reported only one fatality, which occurred over a year ago."

"These latest incidents have expedited a recently commenced and comprehensive review of all safety protocols, procedures and standards across the mine, because if we cannot mine safely we will not mine. We will act decisively to address any weaknesses identified by the review," Mr Holland added.

The impact of these fatalities on production for the remainder of the year, together with the potential impact of any proposed remedial action arising from the mine-wide safety review referred to above, will be announced as soon as possible.

Notes to editors  

About Gold Fields 

Gold Fields Ltd. is an unhedged, globally diversified producer of gold with eight operating mines in Australia, Ghana, Peru and South Africa. In February 2013, Gold Fields unbundled its mature, underground KDC and Beatrix mines in South Africa into an independent and separately listed company, Sibanye Gold. In October 2013, it expanded its presence in Western Australia by acquiring the Granny Smith, Lawlers and Darlot mines (known as the Yilgarn South Assets) from Barrick Gold. 

Gold Fields has attributable annual gold production of approximately 2.02 million ounces, as well as attributable Mineral Reserves of around 49 million ounces and Mineral Resources of about 113 million ounces. Attributable copper Mineral Reserves total 708 million pounds and Mineral Resources 7,120 million pounds. Gold Fields has a primary listing on the JSE Limited, with secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ Dubai Limited, Euronext in Brussels (NYX) and the Swiss Exchange (SWX).  

Sponsor: J.P. Morgan Equities South Africa (Pty) Ltd

SOURCE Gold Fields Ltd.