South African shareholders in Gold Fields are in line for a R13 windfall in net dividends per share after the gold miner boosted output for the half year to June by 12% to 1.267 million ounces of gold, pushing attributable profits for the period higher by 81% to over $1.8 billion as precious metals prices glittered.
Gold Fields also stepped up its share buy-back programme during the period under review as it completed share repurchases worth $300m, with the board allocating a further $500m to additional shareholder returns to be paid partly in special dividends.
Mike Fraser, CEO of Gold Fields, said sales volumes for the June interim period jumped 18% to 1.269 million ounces, supported by a higher average realised gold price of $4,678 per ounce. This lifted adjusted free cash flows by 134% to $2.2bn.
The South Deep mine in South Africa “continued to demonstrate incremental improvement in stope turnover and mining productivity” as it delivered a solid first-half performance. Attributable gold production for the South African mine was, however, down 1% compared to the previous contrasting period at 151,000 ounces.
“Performance improved during Q2 2026 and in line with the plan, supported by stronger destress mining, improved development rates, stable grades, improved long-hole stoping, and enhancements to water management, ventilation, and backfill infrastructure. A five-year wage agreement was signed post-period end, which provides a solid base for stability,” said Fraser.
The Salares Norte mine in Chile’s Atacama Desert nonetheless delivered a 173% stronger gold production at 337,000 ounces as the operation completed its ramp-up to steady-state production. Salares Norte was supported by strong plant availability, which resulted in higher-than-planned throughput and better-than-budgeted reconciled head grades.
Gold Fields’ Gruyere and Agnew mines in Australia and Tarkwa in Ghana “showed encouraging signs of improvement in the second quarter as recovery plans gained” traction.
The company expects attributable gold-equivalent production for 2026 to be at the upper end of the guidance range of 2.4 and 2.6 million ounces, underpinned by outperformance expected at Salares Norte in the second half of the current year.
The company is implementing production recovery at Gruyere and Tarkwa, although the two assets “remain at risk of delivering below their full year guidance” despite improved performance in the quarter to June 2026.
For the period under review, group unit costs increased mainly as a result of higher gold-price linked royalties, stronger producer country currencies, and higher input costs. All-in sustaining costs (AISC) for the period increased 13% to $1,893 per ounce.
However, in line with the guidance provided in February 2026, Gold Fields expects AISC for the full year to amount to between $1,800 and $2,000 per ounce, while capital expenditure is projected to range from $1.6bn to $1.8bn compared to previous guidance of between $1.9bn and $2.1bn.
“The reduction primarily reflects the reclassifying of certain Windfall expenditure from capital expenditure to exploration expense. While capital expenditure is expected to decrease, a portion of the reduction will be offset by higher growth exploration expenditure,” said the company.
With brownfields exploration remaining a core pillar for Gold Fields, the company said it will continue with its capital allocation strategy to support reserve replacement, mine-life extension, and capital-efficient growth from existing infrastructure.
During the first half period under review, Gold Fields invested $56m into brownfields exploration as it also resumed surface drilling at South Deep to infill the South of Wrench (SOW) area.
Shares in Gold Fields inched up by 1% to R766.06 in afternoon trade on the JSE on Tuesday. In the past seven and 30 days, Gold Fields traded 16.82% and 38.17% stronger.
The National