The company traces its roots back to 1887, when Cecil Rhodes founded Gold Fields of South Africa Limited.

[4] The company owns and operates mines in Australia, Chile, Ghana, Peru and South Africa, with one 50:50 JV project in Canada.

This transaction, if approved by Osisko Mining shareholders, will give Gold Fields full control of the Windfall Project in Québec, Canada, currently jointly and equally owned and managed by Gold Fields and Osisko Mining.

In October 2001 a tailings dam ruptured at the company's Tarkwa Gold Mine in Ghana resulting in thousands of cubic metres of mine waste water spilling into the Asuman River and resulting in the death of significant marine life.

[9] In July 2012 the company was directed by the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency to halt a gold-recovery plant at the Tarkwa Gold Mine because water discharged from the site required additional treatment.