The company said its second-quarter loss was mostly due to impairment charges in Ghana of $143m at its Tarkwa mine and $127m at Damang. The charges related to its decision to curtail processing activities at the operations because of the lower gold price. The average gold price in the June quarter was 13 percent lower at $1 405 an ounce and the spot price has lost about 30 percent since its record high of just more than $1 920 scaled in September 2011. Rival AngloGold Ashanti also has troublesome assets in Ghana and its chief executive said this week that its flagship Obuasi mine there was unsustainable. But Holland said Gold Fields remained committed to the west African country, which is the continent's second-largest bullion producer. Tarkwa's total cash costs are relatively low at just more than $800 an ounce. "Tarkwa is still a great operation and we are not concerned about Tarkwa," Holland said. Damang's road to solid profitability would be a longer one.