Tuesday, 6th December 2005 (2751 views)

South African gold miner Gold Fields has been given the nod by the Peruvian government to go ahead with its $227 million Cerro Corona gold and copper project.

This will allow the world's fourth biggest gold producer to further diversify its gold portfolio, which is currently skewed towards South Africa.

Gold Fields now plans to snap up a majority shareholding in Cerro Corona's owners for $40 million.

Gold Fields is confident the site will net it significant riches, estimating an annual haul of 300,000 ounces of gold every year over the mine's 15 year life. It also expects the site to yield 412,000 tonnes of copper during the same period.

The development will thrust the mining giant towards its target of acquiring an additional 1.5 million ounces of international product by 2009.

The company now has an impressive toehold in upcoming South American gold hotspots after it last month agreed to pay $330 million for Canada's Bolivar – whose main gold assets are in Venezuela.

"I'm particularly pleased with the establishment of a significant Gold Fields' presence in South America," chief executive Ian Cockerill was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"We've now got a firm foothold in a key area of growth in the gold business for the future."

 

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