Gold Fields: The 137-Year-Old Miner That Finally Learned to Print Cash

• Founded in 1887 by Cecil Rhodes, (GFI) has survived wars, apartheid, and commodity crashes. Now it runs on one of the strongest free cash flow profiles in the gold sector.
• FY 2025 adjusted free cash flow of $2.97B and net debt/EBITDA of just 0.26x: this is the balance sheet of a miner that no longer needs to bet on the gold price to stay solvent.
• The dividend per share jumped from $0.16 in 2020 to $0.77 in 2025, with $1.44 projected for 2026. Five-year DPS CAGR of 37.1% pushes the Chowder Rule calculation above 40.
• Salares Norte in Chile reached steady-state production by end of 2025, contributing $808M of free cash flow in a partial operating year. FY 2026 will be the first full year without construction overhang.
• The Ghana Damang lease was awarded to a local firm in April 2026. The risk is real but manageable: Tarkwa, Australia, and Chile now carry the weight of the production story.