Media releases

Early signs of return to stability follows “time-out” to address new High Grade Section challenges

Details

Published: Wednesday, 14 May 2014 02:00

DRDGOLD Limited, today reporting its results for the quarter and nine months ended 31 March 2014, has highlighted various measures, some already initiated and some planned, to address the challenges it experienced in the commissioning of the new High Grade Section of its Brakpan plant.

Johannesburg, South Africa. 14 May, 2014. DRDGOLD Limited (DRDGOLD: JSE, NYSE: DRD), today reporting its results for the quarter and nine months ended 31 March 2014, has highlighted various measures, some already initiated and some planned, to address the challenges it experienced in the commissioning of the new High Grade Section of its Brakpan plant. Gold production for the first nine months of FY2014 was therefore 11% lower than for the comparable period of FY2013, prompting the company to declare “time-out” for the new High Grade Section early in April, says CEO Niël Pretorius.

As a result of the suspension of the High Grade Section, the established Low Grade (carbon-in-leach) Section of the Brakpan plant – impacted negatively by the High Grade Section’s under-performance – has been restored to steady state. In April, gold production was up 21% month-on-month, while the negative all-in cash flows experienced in March were reversed.

Now and looking ahead, Pretorius says new, higher grade material for retreatment is being sourced to supplement yield, while water balance management and carbon inefficiencies, together with electricity supply risk, are being addressed through engineering and infrastructure upgrades, as well as new management procedures and protocols.

“The High Grade Section will then be tested in closed circuit to prove the extraction process, before it is re-introduced,” “Pretorius says.

South Africa & North America

James Duncan, Russell and Associates 
+27 11 880 3924 (office)
+27 (0) 79 336 4010 (mobile)

United Kingdom/Europe 
Investor and Media Relations
Phil Dexter, St James’s Corporate Services
+44 (0) 20 7796 8644 (office)
+44 (0) 779 863 4398 (mobile)

For more information, please visit www.drdgold.com

Disclaimer

Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, among others, adverse changes or uncertainties in general economic conditions in the markets we serve, a drop in the gold price, a sustained strengthening of the Rand against the Dollar, regulatory developments adverse to DRDGOLD or difficulties in maintaining necessary licenses or other governmental approvals, changes in DRDGOLD’s competitive position, changes in business strategy, any major disruption in production at key facilities or adverse changes in foreign exchange rates and various other factors. These risks include, without limitation, those described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” included in our annual report for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2013, which we filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on 25 October 2013 on Form 20-F. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or to the occurrence of unanticipated events. Any forward-looking statement included in this report have not been reviewed and reported on by DRDGOLD’s auditors.