| Tue 3 Apr 2001, 0:00 | | Gold Fields To Support Research Into New Industria |
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JOINT PRESS RELEASE
Johannesburg - 3 April 2001: Gold Fields Limited (JSE: GFI and Nasdaq: GOLD)
and Mintek today announced the entry of Gold Fields into Project AuTEK, a
pioneering initiative to pursue research into and the development of new
industrial uses for gold.
Chris Thompson, Chairman and Chief Executive of Gold Fields said; "Gold
producers have in the past not spent enough time and money on developing new
product applications for gold. Through this project we aim to explore the
potential for gold and gold alloys to be used in catalytic and other new
applications. We believe there is substantial potential for gold to replace
existing products and to create new ones."
"Project AuTEK is a very exciting and significant step for the future of the
gold market," Thompson said.
Project AuTEK, which was first launched in June 2000, now has Gold Fields,
AngloGold, and Mintek as primary partners. The project has research
affiliations with a number of institutions worldwide, including the
Universities of Cape Town, Witwatersrand and the North in South Africa, as well
as the LERCSI in France and the University of Leiden in The Netherlands.
Dr Mike Cortie, manager of the Physical Metallurgy Division of Mintek said;
"The entry of Gold Fields into the partnership will allow AuTEK to expand its
focus from research into the use of gold in catalysts for the chemical
industry, to include other applications such as the use of gold in advanced
materials and devices."
He added; "Gold has diverse useful and interesting technological properties.
However, it has only been discovered comparatively recently that it has great
potency as a catalyst for many chemical reactions of commercial and
environmental interest. This breakthrough in understanding occurred more or
less simultaneously at laboratories in Japan and Western Europe. Research into
gold-bearing catalysts is now an active topic in Europe, Japan, the USA, China
and South Africa. The first 12 months of Project AuTEK has focussed on these
applications. However, we have been aware all along that gold has other actual
and potential applications in advanced devices and components and, with the
support from Gold Fields, Project AuTEK will be additionally directed at these
new opportunities. Of particular interest to us, and our partners at the
universities of the Witwatersrand and the North, is that gold has actual or
potential uses in the growing field of nanotechnology and in certain kinds of
advanced materials and devices. While these types of devices might only use a
few hundred milligrams of gold a piece, their potential market runs to tens of
millions of units and they could end up being a significant consumer of gold."
Enquiries:
* Willie Jacobsz, Gold Fields Limited, +27-11-644-2460 e-mail:
williej@goldfields.co.za
* Cheryl Martin, Gold Fields Limited (North America), +303 796-8683 e-mail:
camartin@gfexpl.com
* Pat Speedie, Mintek, +27-11-709-4280 email: pats@mintek.co.za
