Gold Fields cuts Q2 production forecast to 900 000 oz

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s second-largest gold-miner, Gold Fields, on Thursday lowered its second-quarter production guidance after seismic-related stoppages hit output.
The company said it expected attributable production for the second quarter of 2010 to be around 900 000 oz of gold, which was 2,8% lower than the previous guidance of 925 000 oz.
The miner explained in a statement that it had lost seven days of production, or almost a one-third of the December production month, at its Driefontein mine in South Africa, after two workers were killed in a seismic event.
Gold Fields noted that in line with the lower production, total cash costs and notional cash expenditure for the group were expected to be about $615/oz and $900, respectively, which was about 4% and 3% higher than the previous guidance.
The gold miner would publish its results on February 4.