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| - South African miner Gold Fields Ltd. said Wednesday it expected earnings to roughly double in the first half of 2020 on the back of a surge in the price of gold during the second quarter. Basic earnings per share "are expected to be between 17.1-18.9 US cents per share, an increase of 90-110 percent" over the 9 cents per share a year earlier, it said in a statement. Production in January-June was almost unchanged at 1,087 thousand ounces compared with 1,083 in the first half of 2019, it said in a statement. The Johannesburg-listed company has nine operational mines in Australia, Peru, South Africa and West Africa, as well as a project underway in Chile. The precious metal, a traditional investor haven at times of uncertainty, has seen price gains of more than 30 percent this year, driven by fears of the impact of COVID-19 on the world's economy. Prices on Tuesday hit $2,000 an ounce for the first time. ri/sn/rl
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