Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Gold Fields Market and Media Call with the Chairman of the Board and incoming CEO. All participants will be in listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity to ask questions later during the conference. If you should need assistance during the call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero. Please note that this call is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Yunus Suleman. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you, Irene, good afternoon to all of you, and thank you for joining us in this afternoon's important announcement. As you would have seen this morning, we actually published a SENS appointing Mike Fraser as the incoming CEO, effective 1 January 2024. I'm delighted to be sitting in the boardroom at Gold Fields in the corporate office with Mike on my right-hand side, and Jongisa and Thomas, our corporate communications team. This is a great opportunity for us to introduce Mike to the global, let's call it, media and market. We're really delighted that Mike accepted our offer, and that we are really in a position to welcome him in the new year.
As you know, Martin has been the interim CEO since the beginning of the year, and we have been very delighted in terms of what Martin has achieved during his tenure, and he will continue in that role until the end of this year. What I wanted to do is for you to hear first-hand from Mike on his experience and his broad, let's say, living in different regions around the world, and what he can offer in terms of Gold Fields and why we decided to appoint him. Over to you, Mike.
Great. Thank you very much, Yunus, and good morning and good afternoon to all of those on the call today. I'm sure I know many of you, and for those that I do, I look forward to reacquainting with you, and for those that I've not yet met, I look forward to meeting you in due course. Look, I'm delighted to be joining Gold Fields. Gold Fields is one of the pre-eminent gold mining companies, as we know. It's got a very proud track record, and has really been innovative and creative in so many ways. In the last decade, you know, there's been a complete transformation of this business, but there's a lot more that we can still do. And I'm really looking forward to joining a team that is gonna take this business to the next level of performance.
You know, what is really important for me is you know, focusing on the key priorities of the business. This isn't gonna be a massive U-turn on strategy. I think the business has got a sound strategy that we need to just execute and deliver on it. There will be undoubtedly choices that need to be made in time, but the real focus is on delivering on the key things. So as we know, Salares Norte is a key priority for us, continually focusing on reserve replacement over time and focusing on the improvement of the assets within the portfolio. What I do bring to Gold Fields, I believe, is a very broad-based experience across leading operations in multiple geographies, particularly in the geographies that Gold Fields has exposure to.
I've also got the benefit of some real big corporate experience through my time with BHP and also lately South32, where I've been able to see through organization transformations and tweaking organizations as they deliver on high performance. You know, lastly, in the last two years, I took a meander through a junior gold mining company, which also brought some really rich experiences to bear, and ones that I can bring back to Gold Fields, not least of which is some exposure into the gold industry, particularly. But also just how commercial deals are done at the junior end of the sector, which is kind of, I think, you know, where opportunities exist for further consolidation in time.
I am South African. I have lived in a number of countries around the world, so I consider myself a bit of a global citizen in that respect. But I look forward to working with a team that has got an incredible technical bench, and I certainly will lean on that to deliver, you know, future performance, for this great organization. So thank you very much for, for the time that you've got today, and, if there's any questions that anyone has at this point in time, happy to take them. Otherwise, in due course, once I've joined the, the organization more fully, I'm sure Jongisa will set up some time for us to engage, more fully.
Thank you, Mike. Irene, are there any questions yet, or should I carry on making some additional comments?
Thank you, sir. We do actually have a few people queued already, and I would just like to remind anyone else that would like to ask a question, that you are welcome to press star and then one on your touchtone phone or on the keypad on your screen. You will hear a confirmation tone that you have joined the queue. If you, however, wish to withdraw your question, you may press star and then two. The first question we have is from Raj Ray of BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you, operator, and good afternoon, Yunus and, and Mike, and congrats on your appointment, Mike. The first question, Mr. Chairman, for you. In terms of, you did highlight what you were looking for in terms in the new candidate, but where Gold Fields sits today, what were the key qualities that, or criteria you had in terms of appointing the, the next leadership position? And, how do you think the experience that, that Mike brings in aligns with where Gold Fields is looking to move? That's my first question. And second is, was it a requirement for the person to be based in Johannesburg or where it's the CEO of Gold Fields?
Thank you. Yeah, so, the first point, in terms of criteria, we as a board defined that very clearly, that we were looking for someone with global experience in the number of the regions in which we operate. And in essence, with the experience that Mike brings to the table, he's worked in a number of jurisdictions, including Australia, including Colombia, with South America, where we have a number of mining operations. And also in terms of transformational experience, in terms of our cultural journey that we embarked upon a few months ago.
As you may know, in June this year, we launched what we call the Gold Fields Way, which is very much about changing the environment, the cultural journey that we embarked upon, and to make sure that from a human resource point of view, which Mike has extensive experience on, will help us. Also, from his role as the COO for the BHP South32 operations, it was very helpful for us to have that benefit, where his experience could be brought to bear as well. Those are kind of some of the criteria. Overall, we were comfortable that his strategic experience, and also his, in terms of his, let's call it, corporate experience, fits in well with the operating experience that we have at the actual Exco level as we have currently.
So it's actually the combination of those two sort of, let's call it, areas, was enough for us to appoint Mike as our incoming CEO. Secondly, in terms of the other criteria, it's a matter of the actual head office of Gold Fields is in Johannesburg, and although when we went out to look for a candidate, we didn't put that as a prerequisite, that they had to be based in Johannesburg. But overall, it actually fits in well because Mike is South African, and also, was gonna be happy to relocate because he kept his house in South Africa, and therefore, it'll be an easier transition.
The third point I wanna add is that because Martin is an operator, and in essence, we've decided together with Mike especially, that he will remain as an executive committee member, the combination of the two will be literally an A team that will take Gold Fields to another level. I hope that answers your questions.
Yeah, that does. Thank you very much.
The next question we have is from Jared Hoover of RMB Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Afternoon, Mike, Yunus, and team, and thanks for the call. I think you've answered a lot of my questions in your preamble, Mike, and but maybe two more from me, if I could. I was hoping we could expand a bit on your commentary around some of the choices that need to be made at Gold Fields and time. And I mean, I appreciate you probably still need to dig deeper into the nuts and bolts at Gold Fields, but maybe if you can just chat about those choices, and maybe from the outside looking in, any underappreciated areas of value that you see. And then maybe just to add on to Raj's question earlier, Yunus, maybe if you could just chat about any specific mandate that you've actually given to Mike.
Mike, are there any specific terms that you laid out for Gold Fields before you were willing to accept that role? I'll leave it there. Thanks.
A lot in there, Jared. And look, I think, maybe I'll just start with your question about the, where the value opportunities sit. You know, I've got a few hypotheses of where we can focus on. I don't think they're gonna be anything, mind-blowing. I think it's gonna come down to, you know, looking at how capital it gets allocated, looking at where the opportunities exist within the existing assets for further optimization and value unlock. And lastly, looking at where, growth. And I talk about growth loosely, because I'm not sure there's been a decision about, you know, what is the optimal size for Gold Fields. So, I think there's got to be a question of how, you know, where does money get allocated to reserve replacement? You know, is that an internal or external focus?
So those are the kind of conversations that I think are, are warranted. But then as, as Yunus has said, you know, I think one of the true opportunities of taking Gold Fields to the next level of performance is not just looking at the existing assets, but how do you unlock the potential of the organization, in its totality, particularly as you add on these existing growth options in the pipeline, being Salares, Martabe, and the Canadian additions. So, you know, that's kind of gonna be, you know, early, early ways of thinking. But I'm sure in the new year, after the results release, we'll have an opportunity of engaging more fully in some of those strategic questions.
Thanks. And if I can add to the point you raised about the mandate, you know, essentially, Mike is clear in his mind in terms of his strategic priorities, and ours is very much aligned. So essentially, what we have said is that the actual strategy that actually needs to be continuously implemented is very much in line with what the board has approved. There's no plan to change anything drastically in terms of our strategy. I think in terms of the, let's call it, environment in which we have got a refreshed executive committee, I think he needs to play a role in the appointment of the next CFO.
As you know, Paul Schmidt will leave us sometime in the new year, and the reality is we've quite now got that show on the road, and Mike will play an important role in making sure that the right person comes in, and the transition with him and Paul will be done in a very seamless way. I think, in terms of the current mandate, there'll obviously be a few months where he will work closely with Martin over the next few months. There, we've also identified a number of opportunities for him to be able to work on certain areas which we believe are important for the short term. Thank you.
Great. Thanks very much.
I would just like to give a reminder, if anyone else would like to ask a question, you're welcome to press star and then one. The next question we have is from Adrian Hammond of SBG Securities.
Good afternoon, everyone. Good to see you. I'd like to just follow -up on the, obviously, around Martin. What specific role will you be offering him, and how do you ensure that there's, you know, continuation of technical leadership within the group? Which obviously, Martin was a mine background, and certainly that was well received by the market. What do you think about ensuring that intellectual property is sustained? If I may just use this platform to ask whether there is any concern from Mike's point of view on the outlook for Salares, whether that is on track? Thank you.
Thanks, Adrian. In terms of Martin's role, I think it's something that will evolve over the next few months. It's clear that he will remain on the executive management team, and Mike and I have already spoken about it. This role that he will take will evolve, as I said, and then something in terms of, call it announcing exactly what that role will be, will be done in the near future. I think that an exact title will be difficult to assess at this stage, but Mike is clear in his mind that definitely he would want to work with Martin, and that will supplement his role in terms of the way forward. He will still be responsible as CEO to deal with the strategy and the vision of where we go with Gold Fields.
So that will ensure there is consistency. I think in terms of the leadership, there, there's a really a broad spectrum of leadership in the executive committee, and, and everyone will work as one team supporting Mike.
Yeah, Adrian, good to meet you. I think, you know, I've had a great conversation with Martin. I think he's a really well-respected and got some deep operating experience, particularly in, you know, hard rock underground mining and also, you know, open pit mining. And I think there's no doubt that Martin is very keen to be part of this business going forward, and I think we want him to be part of it going forward. And he's gonna help us to grow the capability and the next set of leaders as well, that will come through. So, you know, we're both committed to that journey, and I know Martin's gonna be an important part of the business going forward.
Thanks.
As far as Adrian, yes, I've been, I think, briefed as much as you have in terms of what's available in the market, and the expectation is still for first gold by the end of Q4 2023.
There's been nothing to indicate that that will change, so yep.
Great. Thanks very much.
Nothing has changed since our last announcement in that regard, yeah.
Are you covered in terms of your questions?
Yes. Thank you very much.
Thanks.
Thank you. The next question we have is from Leroy Mnguni of HSBC. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon. I've got two questions, please. So the first one is for Mike. In the time that you spent at your current company, I think it's Chaarat—I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly—but I see they've got two, some exciting projects. Would you potentially, over the longer term, could you see those as a fit for the Gold Fields portfolio of assets? And then, my second question is just around Martin and sort of lock-ins going forward. Have you put in anything to incentivize him to stay over the medium term, considering that he's sort of been overlooked for the CEO role?
Thanks, Leroy. Look, what I have learnt a lot about Central Asia in the last few years, is these are tough places to do business. You know, we think Africa is a tough place, and South America is tough, but these are equally tough. They are good assets, with very high grades, but there's a lot of challenge as well around them. And I also think, you know, with some of the politics playing out right now, I wouldn't necessarily say they might be the first, first address we look at. But, you know, I think there's enough within the hopper of Gold Fields to focus on the current profile, at least initially.
So Leroy, getting back to Martin, I would think that the earliest we would look at that would be in the February board cycle. At this stage, you know, Martin is a very loyal citizen, and he's committed, and he's very much wanting to remain with Gold Fields. So I don't think money would be the driving force to incentivize him to stay. He's very committed, he's very loyal, and like he said to me, "I'm here to serve you." And so we're very comfortable where we are, but we could look at something in the new year when that comes up.
Thanks. Maybe if I could just, as a follow-up to that, you've obviously had significant turnover in the executive team over the last 12 months, understandably, for various different reasons, but has that sort of led to you kind of relooking the structure of your long-term incentives?
Yeah. I think at this point in time, I would just make one comment in terms of change. The change is very good to have. Some of them, let's call it, were surprises, but I think in the end, out of the sort of positions that we have to replace, four out of the five positions were replaced by internal candidates. I don't think it's about the incentive that would provide any further commitment or confirmation that people want to remain. It's not about money. It's all about the environment, and I think what we have is a very stable executive team. I don't think we anticipate by giving people more money, they want to stay. It's not that. And I think from our perspective, we've really created a good environment and a stable environment for people to want to work with Gold Fields.
We've seen that with the recruiting. I think in the big scheme of things, we wouldn't expect anything significant, but where there's need for change, we will continue in that journey and refresh what we currently have. So I don't think it's about incentives.
All right. That's fair. Thank you.
The next question we have is from Felix Njini of Thomson Reuters. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon. Sorry if what I'm asking has already been asked, just, but just a quick question from me is, the appointment of an external candidate, does that change anything in terms of the strategy that Gold Fields has been pursuing? That is, you know, looking to grow by, you know, building new mines.
Yeah. If I can tell, give you feedback on that. As far as the strategy is concerned, as I mentioned up front, there's no plan to change that. And ultimately, it's centered around the three pillars, which is maximize the potential of our current assets through people and innovation. And secondly, building on our leading commitment to ESG, and finally, growing the value and quality of our portfolio of assets. I mean, as you know, the Windfall Osisko project has been a great addition to our portfolio, and we're working closely with leadership there. And secondly, in terms of our proposed JV with AngloGold Ashanti in the Iduapriem mine, together with Tarkwa, is really something that we're looking forward to close sooner rather than later. So overall, no major changes to the strategy.
Okay, that's fine. There seems to be a view that the market has grown comfortable with you know Martin and there was an expectation that he was going to be the CEO. It looks like the entire team that was you know in the mix of the acquisition for Yamana is gone. Is this the strategy to remove them from is there a strategy, a delivery strategy, to get rid of the old team that was responsible for the Yamana acquisition?
No, no, there was absolutely no intention of removing anyone. Most, if not all of them, resigned on their own accord for their personal reasons, so there was never an intention to remove anyone. It just so happens that the timing was such that it was during that time. But at this point in time, literally no one was removed or had left, you know, other than the CEO that left. But overall, there was no intention of removing anyone.
Just as a follow-up to a question that was asked earlier about, you know, the experience, Mike's experience in gold. I mean, you're developing new projects. One would have expected that you go with an old hand or somebody who is familiar with those projects. Do you anticipate that this will likely delay some things, or there will be likely to be any hiccups in the projects that you're doing in Chile and in Canada?
No, not at all. I think we have a strong technical team globally. We have a strong operating management team in terms of mining experience, and therefore, we don't necessarily have any concern around that. And the complementary role that Mike will bring in terms of the existing team, will actually enhance our skills and grow us even further in the pipeline. I don't know, Mike, you want to add to that?
Yeah, I think Felix is certainly, if you think about Salares Norte, that will be first gold poured by the end of the year, so that'll be largely complete. But at the end of the day, you know, organizations like Gold Fields require a strong team, and not one person runs the organization, as I'm sure you know. So, what is important is that you bring complementary skills together, and I think this is what the board has made a decision on, is to bring skills that I can bring to the organization to take it further forward, which includes encompassing all of the key strategic objectives contained in the strategy. So I think that's where we're at.
Okay, that's fine. Forgive me again if I'm asking something that's already been asked, Mike. You-- would you acquire any assets in the regions that you're building new mines now, if you were to get them, and would you consider doing any deals, any acquisitions, if there are any?
I think the only comment I can make on that, Felix, is it's up to us to develop a very strong pipeline of opportunities, and the right opportunities will be selected from that hopper set, dependent on how the capital allocation model is created and dependent on where we want to put capital, whether it's investing in the existing assets, buying new assets, greenfield development, or returning money to shareholders. And ultimately, I think, in terms of my philosophy, it's about growing cash flow per share. It's not about size for size sake.
All right. Okay, that's fine. Thanks a lot. Thank you so much.
The next question we have is from René Hochreiter of Noah. Please go ahead.
Hi, Yunus and, Mr. Fraser, Mike, if I may call you. Congratulations on the job and for the opportunity to maybe ask some questions. I'd just like to gauge the appetite of chief executives for accepting a position in South Africa. If you could, I mean, just out of interest, how many South Africans did you interview for the job, and how many non-South Africans did you interview for the job?
Well, let's put it this way, the long list was, like, 350 globally, and initially, we didn't want to restrict the actual search to any predominant South Africans, so we wanted someone with that global experience. So I think in terms of the interview process, it took about 10 months in that process. I can't specify exactly the number of people we interviewed, but it was quite broad. And a lot of the interviews were actually undertaken in London because we wanted to make it convenient to attract people to come to, let's call it, London, where, you know, easier travel from South America, from Brazil, from Australia and the rest of the world.
I think in terms of South Africans, we did interview a good couple of South Africans, but I think ultimately it was that global reach that distinguished what we were looking for, not just someone, people just from the South African experience point of view. So I think in terms of numbers, I would say the majority were from global. And there were quite a few South Africans, but ultimately, as I said, the distinguishing factor was a question of global experience. And as I said, initially, we didn't restrict it to the person being South African, but the reality was, because our head office is in Johannesburg, one of the criteria was that the incoming CEO should be someone that could relocate to Johannesburg, and that's the way we approached it.
Unfortunately, with the reputation of South Africa, people were sometimes, let's say, reje- let's call it, were not interested to relocate to South Africa. Even though we, we tried to market other regions within South Africa, it was a challenge, but that's, that would be my answer, René.
Well, thanks very much for that. We're not gonna see Gold Fields being a Ashanti, AngloGold Ashanti, and moving to New York?
Not at this point in time. Definitely not, sir.
Okay, thanks very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, just a final reminder, if anyone else would like to ask a question, you are welcome to press star and then one. The next question we have is Arnold Van Graan of Nedbank CIB. Please go ahead.
Yes, good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my call. Chair, just a quick question. So, you made it clear that you're not gonna, you know, re-domicile the company, and that's been talked about quite a lot. But is there any other structures you're looking at? And again, I'm referring to the questions around Martin's role and what that's gonna evolve into. So, I guess long story short, are you looking at potentially splitting up the company or looking at some other structure of unlocking value other than a re-domicile and changing the listing? Thank you.
Thanks a lot, Arnold. I think at this point in time, we've not discussed any restructuring of the group. We're very much comfortable where we are at the moment. And essentially going forward, at this point in time, there is no talk about any restructuring. We're very much focused on our strategy. We believe that that's worked pretty well for us in recent times, as you would have seen with the small acquisition that we've got. We're really looking at if there's an opportunity out there, it would be more to add to the portfolio that will add or create more value. We have improved our dividend distribution, which has been very well received by our shareholders. And overall, I think at this point in time, it's very much business as usual.
You know, domicile is something we've spoken about previously, but we really don't believe that any cost factor that contributes to that justifies a relocation. So overall, I don't believe anything has come to mind at this point in time, that we need to look at any restructuring of Gold Fields.
Thank you very much. That's it for me. Cheers.
Thank you. It seems we have no further questions on the conference line.
All right, I think that's very helpful, and we really appreciate the, the comments from everyone. So overall, I think from my perspective as the board, I think we're really excited about Mike joining us, and, as I mentioned, with Martin remaining on the actual executive management team, there will be a very seamless leadership transition. Martin has been very supportive of Mike's appointment and really excited to work closely with him. I have said it upfront, and I want to repeat it, I want to take this opportunity on behalf of the board to extend our deepest gratitude to Martin for his outstanding job as interim CEO.
And overall, I think in terms of our journey, our cultural journey and the transformation in Gold Fields, we're also looking for that to continue in a very strong fashion together with Mike coming in the new year. So we're really comfortable with having a stable executive team, and ultimately, in terms of the way forward, we continue to expect strong operational and financial results, and the fact that Salares Norte is now able to deliver gold during the end of this year. So I think we're really excited about where we are, and we're looking forward to really getting the growth and value of Gold Fields to get stronger in the future. And thank you all for participating.
Yep. Thanks, everyone.
If anyone's got any further questions, please reach out to myself or to Thomas. Yeah. Thank you.
All right, then. Thanks, Irene. Bye-bye, everyone.
Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your line.