goldfields.co.za
GOLD FIELDS AND TANAMI AGREEMENT
Johannesburg and Perth, 10 April 2000: Tanami Gold NL (Tanami) and South African gold producer Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) today announced the signing of a joint venture agreement on Tanami's Solitaire Project in the Tanami-Arunta Province of Australia. The Joint Venture is a significant boost for gold exploration in the Tanami-Arunta Province.
The terms of the Solitaire Joint Venture between Tanami and Gold Fields are:
ú Gold Fields may earn a 25% interest in the Project by spending AU$1.5 million and increase its interest to 51% by spending a further AU$1 million (a total of AU$2.5 million) on exploration within three years of the Project tenements being granted;
ú Gold Fields has committed to spend AU$1.0 million within 12 months of the Project tenements being granted;
ú Gold Fields has the right to earn a further 9% interest in the Project (up to 60%) by free carrying Tanami through a bankable Feasibility Study.
The Joint Venture will provide Tanami with further financial and technical support to accelerate exploration programs in its 1,650 square kilometre Solitaire Project area, located in the trans-Tanami structural corridor which hosts the multi-million ounce mines at Callie and The Granites, and the new Coyote discovery.
The Joint Venture with Gold Fields follows a Strategic Corporate Alliance Agreement between Tanami and Gutnick Resources late last year. Gutnick Resources which, through the Strategic Corporate Alliance, is backing Tanami Gold financially and technically, welcomes the involvement of Gold Fields in Tanami's Solitaire Project.
Mr Joseph Gutnick, Chairman of both Gutnick Resources and Tanami, said that he welcomed Gold Fields to Australia and saw their involvement in the joint venture as a strong backing of the Australian resource industry and, in particular, the Tanami province which had now attracted the attention of some of the world's largest gold producers.
"Gutnick Resources and Tanami Gold are the main landholders in the province with land holdings in excess of 100,000 square kilometres," Mr Gutnick said.
Tanami's Managing Director, Mr Denis Waddell, said the agreement with Gold Fields represented an excellent opportunity to accelerate exploration on the highly prospective Solitaire Project.
"We are delighted to be working with Gold Fields which introduces one of the world's leading gold mining companies into the Tanami-Arunta Province," he said.
"We believe that the Joint Venture with Gold Fields will be productive for both companies and will contribute further to the exploration effort in the highly prospective Tanami-Arunta Province which has recently yielded such major new gold discoveries as Coyote (AngloGold/Acacia), Groundrush (Normandy NFM) and Camel Bore (Otter/Acacia)," Mr Waddell went on to say.
Gold Fields' Senior Vice President Exploration, Mr Craig Nelsen, commented that the investment represented an important new component of Gold Field's international business development strategy to form partnerships with junior exploration companies which will broaden the Company's exposure internationally. .
"In order to underpin our long-term future we aim to focus our search for quality gold reserves in prospective under-explored provinces with the potential to host multi-million ounce orebodies," he said.
The Australasia Regional Manager for Gold Fields, Mr Tommy McKeith, said the company had been attracted to Tanami's Solitaire Project because of its size, location and the large geochemical/geophysical targets located within the Project area.
"We were also impressed with the depth of Tanami's technical expertise and their exploration experience in the province," he added.
Gold Fields is one of the world's largest gold producers, with resources of 150 million ounces, proven and probable reserves of 74 million ounces, and annual production in excess of 4 million ounces. Gold Fields trades on NASDAQ (GOLD) and on the Johannesburg (GFI), London, Paris, Brussels, and Swiss stock exchanges.
Tanami Gold, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, has extensive tenement interests in the Tanami-Arunta Province, much of which is located within the structural corridor which hosts the world-class Callie and The Granites gold mines.
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