JOHANNESBURG, May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gold Fields Limited (NYSE
& JSE: GFI) today announced headline earnings for the March 2008 quarter of
R1,246 million, compared with headline earnings of R456 million and R228
million for the December 2007 and the March 2007 quarters respectively. In
US dollar terms headline earnings for the March 2008 quarter were US$176
million, compared with earnings of US$67 million and US$32 million for the
December 2007 and the March 2007 quarters respectively.

    March 2008 quarter salient features:

    - Attributable gold production decreased 14 per cent to 827,000 ounces
largely due to power disruptions in South Africa;

    - Total cash costs increased 21 per cent from R101,532 per kilogram
(US$467 per ounce) to R122,920 per kilogram (US$513 per ounce) mainly due
to the loss of production at the South African operations;

    - Agreement was reached with Mvela whereby the number of GFL shares to
be exchanged for 15 per cent of GFIMSA will be fixed at 50 million shares;

    - Cerro Corona on track for production of concentrate during the
September 2008 quarter;

    - Nick Holland takes over as the new Chief Executive Officer from Ian
Cockerill and Terence Goodlace appointed Chief Operating Officer, effective
from 1 May 2008.

    An interim dividend declared of 65 SA cents per share payable on 2 June
2008.

    Statement by Nick Holland, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields:

    "It is with deep regret that subsequent to quarter end three separate
accidents resulted in the death of 14 of our colleagues. On 28 April a
seismic event at Driefontein's 10 shaft resulted in the death of four
colleagues and at South Deep one colleague lost his life in a fall of
ground accident on 29 April. On 1 May at South Deep nine colleagues died
when a winder rope apparently broke and a conveyance fell 59 metres to the
bottom of the 215 metre long ancillary ventilation raise hole between 100
and 110A levels. In all instances full investigations are currently
underway. Gold Fields also intends to commission an external, full safety
review at all its operations.

    From an operational perspective the March quarter was characterised by
two important developments.

    The first was the power disruptions in South Africa, which had a
significantly negative impact on Group production and costs.

    The second was the 29 per cent increase in the average rand/gold price
received from R170,488 to R220,612 per kilogram as a result of a 17 per
cent increase in the US dollar price of gold, combined with a 10 per cent
weakening of the South African rand quarter on quarter.

    Despite the negative impact of the power disruptions in South Africa,
the Group margin increased from 38 per cent in the December 2007 quarter to
42 per cent in the March 2008 quarter. This demonstrates the benefits of a
higher gold price combined with the shielding effect of the weakening
currency on Gold Fields' earnings which, combined with cost leadership in a
very challenging inflationary environment globally, should enable Gold
Fields to capture some of the higher price received for the benefit of
shareholders going forward.

    The Group should benefit over the next three quarters as production in
South Africa normalises at stable power supply levels and, in particular,
as production increases from the international operations with the
commissioning of the Cerro Corona mine in the September 2008 quarter and
the completion of the Tarkwa CIL plant expansion during the December 2008
quarter. This, combined with the reduction in capital expenditure as these
projects are completed, is expected to bolster free cash flow and
earnings."



           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 production of more than four million ounces per
annum from eight operating mines in South Africa, Ghana and Australia.

    A ninth mine, the Cerro Corona Gold/Copper mine in Peru, is expected to
commence production by mid 2008 at an initial rate of approximately 400,000
gold equivalent ounces per annum.

    The company has total attributable ore reserves of 92 million ounces
and mineral resources of 252 million ounces.

    Gold Fields employs some 53,000 permanent employees across its
operations and is listed on the JSE Limited South Africa (primary listing),
the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Dubai International Financial
Exchange (DIFX). All of Gold Fields' operations are ISO14001 certified. For
more information please visit the Gold Fields website at
http://www.goldfields.co.za.

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