Gold Fields, the world's fourth-largest gold miner, said yesterday that it expected to complete the R4.5-billion acquisition of the minority stakes in its Tarkwa and Demang mines in Ghana by the end of this week.
This is after shareholders agreed to the acquisition of the stakes from Iamgold.
The decision to buy out its minority partners in its mines is part of the gold miner's strategy to own its operations 100%.
Iamgold holds an 18.9% stake in each of the gold mines.
Gold Fields recently also moved to take out the minority holders in Gold Fields La Cima, which owns the Cerro Corona mine in Peru.
On completion of the transaction, Gold Fields would increase its interest in each of the Tarkwa and Damang gold mines from 71.1% to 90%, with the remaining 10% interest being held by the government of Ghana.
The acquisition will add 181000 ounces to the company's annual production at current cash costs of $540/oz and notional cash expenditure of about $940/oz based on results for the six months to the end of December 2010.
Gold Fields said the purchase would also add a further 2.14 million reserve ounces at a cost of about $300/oz.
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