Friday, Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI), an unhedged producer of gold, revised down its production guidance by 2.7% for its first-quarter 2009, reflecting a slower than expected build-up of production at Cerro Corona.

For the first quarter, the company cut down the attributable production to be approximately 798 thousands ounces, from its previous guidance of 820 thousands ounces. However, it expects the cash costs to be in line with its earlier guidance of approximately R154,000/kg or US$618/oz. Notional Cash Expenditure or NCE, which includes all operating costs as well as sustaining and project capital, is expected to be approximately 6% better than previous guidance, at R227,000 /kg or US$910/oz. The first-quarter, gold production in South Africa operation is expected to be up by 2% with approximately 492 thousand ounces. The cash cost is expected to be R154,000/kg or US$618/oz, compared to a previous guidance of R157,000/kg or US$610/oz. The NCE for the South Africa operation is down to R213,000/kg or US$857/oz, from a previous guidance of R221,000/kg or US$860/oz. For the international operations, the company expects the first-quarter gold production to be approximately 306 thousand equivalent ounces. The cash costs and NCE for the international operations are expected to be approximately US$616/oz and US$983/oz respectively, compared with the previous guidance of US$570/oz and US$1,060/oz. CEO, Nick Holland said that despite the rehabilitation work in South Africa and international growth projects scheduled for completion, the company is in line to achieve the short term target of a run rate of approximately 1 million attributable equivalent ounces of gold, during the third quarter next year, at an NCE of approximately US$725/oz at R/US$8.00. Thursday, the stock closed at $8.31 on the New York Stock Exchange. Copyright(c) 2008 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved