/ 14 April 2000

SOUTH DEEP PRODUCTION DOWN

SOUTH Deep gold mining joint venture said on Wednesday it has suffered a number of infrastructure problems that have affected production in the first quarter of the year. But a spokesman said this will not prevent the joint venture from reaching its targets for the year. “The incidents were serious in that they impacted our production for the quarter, but they are not that significant,” said Patrick Evans, spokesman for the joint venture between Western Areas and Canada’s Placer Dome. “We have got the ore underground and we will reach our target for the year,” Evans said, adding that more details will be given when the joint venture released its quarterly results in the near term.