LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Gold Fields Limited said its power supply has been restored to 71 pct of total average consumption giving it suffience for maintenance but not for production.
This follows an announcement on Friday from Gold Fields along with Harmony and AngloGold Ashanti that they had suspended production because of unreliable energy supplies.
A spokesman for AngloGold stated earlier today that it hopes to resume production in its South African mines "in the course of this week".
"We have now been guaranteed by Eskom (public electricity supplier) of enough power to enable people to go underground to work. We are hopeful to resume production in the course of this week," Steven Lenahan of Anglogold told Agence France-Presse.
Gold Fields said 50 pct of normal electrical consumption is required simply to pump, ventilate and refrigerate its operations.
The amount currently available is sufficient for essential maintenance, pumping, ventilation, refrigeration, opening up faces and making safe, but not for production or beneficiation purposes, as agreed with Eskom.
Gold Fields said this situation will be maintained until at least Wednesday at which time a further meeting will be held with Eskom and other stakeholders with a view to increasing sustainable power supply from the current 71 pct, and a commensurate resumption of production.
