JOHANNESBURG, May 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) (JSE, NYSE, NASDAQ Dubai: GFI) today announced headline earnings for the March 2009 quarter of R1,512 million, compared with headline earnings of R484 million and R1,246 million for the December 2008 and the March 2008 quarters respectively. In US dollar terms headline earnings for the March 2009 quarter were US$163 million, compared with earnings of US$55 million and US$176 million for the December 2008 and the March 2008 quarters respectively. March 2009 quarter salient features: - Attributable gold production increased 4 per cent to 871,000 ounces; - Operating profit increased 55 per cent to R4.0 billion; - Total cash costs decreased 2 per cent from R153,893 per kilogram (US$487 per ounce) to R150,301 per kilogram (US$471 per ounce); - Notional cash expenditure decreased 13 per cent from R244,210 per kilogram (US$774 per ounce) to R213,403 per kilogram (US$668 per ounce); - Mvela Gold subscribed for 15 per cent of GFI Mining South Africa (Pty) Limited (GFIMSA) and exercised its right to use the GFIMSA shares to subscribe for 50 million new ordinary shares in Gold Fields Limited; - Net debt decreased from R9.4 billion (US$970 million) to R7.7 billion (US$810 million); - Liquidity improved by cost effective refinancing package. Statement by Nick Holland, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields: During the quarter under review we remained focused on our strategy of turning Gold Fields around, with a particular emphasis on achieving a step change in our safety performance; whilst at the same time increasing the production base and maintaining rigorous cost control aimed at improving the generation of free cash flow. We regret to report five fatalities during the quarter. However, the safety performance of the Group continued to show an improving trend and F2009 thus far is our best safety year ever. With only two months of the financial year remaining at the time of writing this report, our fatalities for the year stand at 13 compared to 47 during the prior financial year, with all other metrics showing significant improvements. The positive impact of the improvement in safety is felt throughout the Group and reflects in the improved morale of our people. We remain committed to eliminating all serious and fatal accidents on all of our mines, as well as to our guiding principle of: "we will not mine if we cannot mine safely". Despite a very challenging March quarter, including the Christmas break in South Africa, Gold Fields remains on a positive trajectory with production increasing by 4 per cent in the quarter, and eight of our nine mines showing improvements in production. This follows an overall increase of 5 per cent in quarter two, bringing our total production increase for the last two quarters to 10 per cent from the low point experienced in the September 2008 quarter. We anticipate a further increase of a similar size in the next quarter. During the quarter under review, increased production at similar costs resulted in an improved operating margin of 47 per cent, and positive cash flow generation, which is a key component of our strategy of realising value for shareholders. Our operational performance for the quarter was negatively impacted by a poor quarter at Beatrix and commissioning problems with the newly expanded CIL plant at Tarkwa. By the end of the quarter many of the issues impacting the performance of both mines had been addressed and significant improvements are expected at both mines in the June quarter, which should bode well for the overall performance of the Group." The full results are available on the Gold Fields website: http://www.goldfields.co.za/ About Gold Fields Gold Fields Limited is one of the world's largest unhedged producers of gold with attributable steady state production of approximately 4 million ounces per annum from nine operating mines in South Africa, Peru, Ghana and Australia. The company has total attributable ore reserves of 83 million ounces and mineral resources of 251 million ounces. Gold Fields is listed on the JSE Limited (primary listing), New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ Dubai Limited (NASDAQ Dubai), NYSE Euronext in Brussels (NYX) and Swiss Exchange (SWX). For more information please visit the Gold Fields website at http://www.goldfields.co.za/. DATASOURCE: Gold Fields Limited CONTACT: Enquiries: Willie Jacobsz, Mobile: +857-241-7127; Nikki Catrakilis-Wagner, Mobile: +27(0)83-309-6720; Marritt Claassens, Mobile: +27(0)82-307-3297

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