The seasonal Christmas break in South Africa is being blamed for the decline in gold production and reduced earnings for the first quarter of 2010. Records from Gold Fields Ltd. showed that net earning as at end March 31, 2010 slid to US$44 million compared with US$187 million and US$140 million for the December 2009 and March 2009 quarters respectively.

Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland said: "I deeply regret to report that the South Africa region reported three fatal accidents during Q3 F2010. We remain singularly focused on eliminating all serious and fatal accidents on all of our mines and our deliberate efforts towards this goal continue unabated. One of the most important safety initiatives is the set of measures we are putting in place to counteract the impact of seismicity. These initiatives are showing early promise."

He reported that gold production hit 793koz during Q3 of 2009, which was in line with the revised target. The decrease in production this quarter was due to the customary Christmas break in South Africa, accelerated maintenance at Kloof Main shaft and safety related stoppages late in the December quarter which reduced opening inventories of available ore early in the March quarter.

"I am pleased to report that production at all of the South African mines has since improved and we expect that increase to be sustained in Q4," Holland said.

The seasonal decline in South Africa was partially offset by a 6 percent increase in the combined attributable production of the international regions to 398koz, which reflects the improved outlook for our operations in West Africa, Australasia and South America.

The company expects gold production to peak in the fourth quarter this year to achieve the December 2009 level.

In the West Africa region, Tarkwa continues to gain momentum after resolving commissioning issues relating to the newly expanded CIL plant and is expected to increase production during Q4 F2010. At Damang, the new secondary crusher is in the process of being commissioned which should positively impact on the recovered grades and lead to an increase in production levels over the next few quarters.