South Deep holds steady at 151,000oz as Gold Fields drills from surface for the first time in years

Gold Fields' South Deep mine on the West Rand produced 151,000oz of attributable gold in the six months to June 2026, 1% less than a year earlier, the group said in its interim results on 25 August. Management described the performance as in line with plan, with the second quarter stronger than the first.

The company credited continued improvements in stope turnover and mining productivity, supported by stronger destress mining, better development rates, stable grades and improved long-hole stoping. Upgrades to water management, ventilation and backfill infrastructure also helped.

Exploration returns to South Deep

Chief executive Mike Fraser told a media call, as reported by Mining Weekly, that Gold Fields had started exploration drilling at South Deep from surface for the first time in several years, and that the programme had intersected reef at depth only weeks before the results. On the earnings call, management said studies are under way on the South of Wrench orebody, with drilling intended to define how far it extends.

Fraser said the group anticipates at least a 20% production uplift at South Deep over the next five years, and is studying options for a further step change into the 2030s. Shaft and renewable energy studies are part of that work.

A turnaround story

South Deep, one of the deepest and largest gold orebodies in the country, spent years as a problem asset for Gold Fields as the company struggled to make its mechanised mining method work at depth. More recently it has become a steadier contributor, and the latest results suggest the productivity gains are holding.

In July the mine concluded a five-year wage agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers, giving it longer-term certainty on one of its biggest cost lines.

Group context

At group level, attributable production rose 12% to 1.267Moz in the half, driven mainly by the ramp-up of Salares Norte in Chile. Adjusted free cash flow more than doubled to $2.225bn and the interim dividend was raised 132% to 1,625 SA cents a share. Gold Fields kept its 2026 guidance of 2.40Moz to 2.60Moz and expects to finish towards the upper end, at an AISC of $1,800/oz to $2,000/oz.

The group's bigger headache lies outside South Africa, in the renewal of its Tarkwa leases in Ghana. For South Africa, the more significant news is that one of the country's largest remaining gold reserves is being set up for growth rather than managed for decline.

Sources

• Mining Weekly: Gold Fields reports strong interim performance, but Ghana lease renewal causes consternation, 25 Aug 2026
• The Motley Fool: Gold Fields (GFI) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript, 25 Aug 2026
• Investing.com: Gold Fields H1 2026 slides: cash flow surges on Salares Norte ramp, 25 Aug 2026

Photo: Gold-bearing quartz vein from a deep Witwatersrand gold mine. James St. John, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.