UNITED STATES

Form 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO
RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Month of June 2003

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited

Suite No. 1
Private Bag X1
Melrose Arch, 2076
South Africa
(Address of principal executive offices)

(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of
Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)

Form 20-F   X   Form 40-F

(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by
furnishing the information contained in this form
is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934.)

Yes        No   X  

 

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     This Report on Form 6-K is incorporated by reference into the registration statement on Form F-3 (file no. 333-13516) for Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited, filed on December 23, 2002, and into the prospectus that forms a part of that registration statement.

 

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“On 20 March 2003, the South African Government released the draft Mineral and Petroleum Royalty Bill. We are of the opinion that any new royalty imposed will impact significantly on our financial results and the cost of mining in South Africa. As a concerned custodian of our shareholders’ investment, we have submitted our comments to both the Treasury Department and the Department of Minerals and Energy” commented chief executive, Bernard Swanepoel.

Corporate Office: Suite No.1 Private Bag X1 Melrose Arch Johannesburg South Africa 2076 T +27 (11) 684 0140 F +27 (11) 684 0188

www.harmony.co.za		NYSE trading symbol: HMY				JSE trading symbol: HAR

 

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Operationally, the company is well geared for the impact of the strong Rand. The Masimong Expansion Project, a growth project in the Free State, is progressing well with higher grades and tonnages and lower costs being achieved. The operational performance of Evander 8 Shaft continues to improve satisfactorily, underground tonnage is returning back to levels of 60 000 tonnes per month whilst the grade is showing similar improvement to recovery grades of 6,0 g/t. Overall production results from Evander are expected to return to the levels achieved before the seismic event of some nine months ago.

The benefits from the increased development programme to improve the flexibility at Elandsrand will deliver increased tonnages and grade over a period of six months. Deelkraal, which has been suffering from the lack of face availability, have holed two new raises in March. These will be available for mining within the next two months. A third raise line is expected to be available during May 2003.

The Free Gold Joint Venture operations reported a 29% or R58 million reduction in cash operating profit on a 50% attributable basis, down to R141 million. Working costs in R/kg terms increased by 10% to R62 545/kg, but working costs in R/tonne terms decreased by 4% to R223/tonne. At US$232/oz the Free Gold operations remain the most profitable assets in Harmony’s portfolio.

The lower US Dollar gold price and stronger Australian Dollar are affecting the operating margins at all the existing Australian operations. There will be an ongoing need for capital to explore and develop replacements for the existing short life projects. The company’s focus will however be on restricting mining activities to only those areas which will produce profitable ounces on a total cost basis.

“Whilst the current gold price environment is becoming more challenging with the unexpected strengthening of the South African currency, this is the environment which is similar to that in which the company grew substantially. It was during this time, with South African producers’ margins under pressure that the company grew its production base from 580 000 ounces per annum to the plus 3,0 million ounces for the current financial year,” concluded Bernard Swanepoel, chief executive.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING CERTAIN FINANCIAL MEASURES

Although Harmony’s annual and interim financial statements are prepared in accordance with South African Statements of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or S.A. GAAP, as prescribed by law and based on International Accounting Standards, or IFRS, the following financial measures used by Harmony are not S.A. GAAP or IFRS measures (and are not U.S. GAAP measures):

	•		cash operating costs,
	•		cash costs per ounce, kilogram and tonne, and
	•		cash operating profits.

These measures should not be considered by investors in isolation or as an alternative to net income/(loss), income before tax, operating cash flows or any other measure of financial performance presented. Although the Gold Institute has provided a definition for the calculation of cash costs and cash costs per ounce used in these measures, the calculation of these measures may vary from company to company and may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.

However, Harmony’s management believes that cash operating costs, cash costs per ounce (and kilogram and tonne) and cash operating profits are useful performance indicators because they provide:

	•		an indication of profitability and efficiency,
	•		the trends in costs as operations mature,

Disclaimer

This document includes certain information that is based on management’s reasonable expectations and assumptions. These “forward-looking statements” include, but are not limited to, statements regarding estimates, intentions and beliefs, as well as anticipated future production, mine life, market conditions and costs. While management has prepared this information using the best of their experience and judgment, and in all good faith, there are risks and uncertainties involv ed which could cause results to differ from projections.

Cautionary Note to US Investors — The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We may use certain terms in this document, such as “resources”, that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclos ure in our public filings with the SEC available from us at Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited, Suite Nr. 1, Private Bag X 1, Melrose Arch, 2076 South Africa, for the attention of: Mr. Ferdi Dippenaar, Marketing Director. You can also obtain these filings from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.

 

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	•		a measure of gross margin per ounce, by comparison of cash costs per ounce to the spot price of gold, and
	•		a benchmark of performance commonly used in the gold mining industry.

Harmony calculates cash operating costs by aggregating costs in the following categories, which are included in the Gold Institute’s industry definition of cash costs:

	•		mine production, transport and refinery costs,
	•		general and administrative costs,
	•		movement in production inventories and ore stockpiles,
	•		transfers to and from deferred stripping, and
	•		royalties.

Harmony calculates cash costs per ounce, kilogram and tonne by dividing cash operating costs by the number of ounces of gold, kilograms of gold or tonnes of ore, as applicable, that Harmony produced in the period presented.

Harmony calculates cash operating profits by subtracting cash operating costs from revenues.

The Gold Institute is a non-profit international association of miners, refiners, bullion suppliers and manufacturers of gold products that has developed a uniform format for reporting production costs on a per ounce basis. The standard was first adopted in 1996 and was revised in November 1999. Cash operating costs, cash costs per ounce, kilogram and tonne, and cash operating profits have been calculated on a consistent basis for all periods presented. Changes in cash operating costs, cash cost per ounce, kilogram and tonne, and cash operating profits are affected by operational performance, as well as changes in the currency exchange rate between the Rand and the U.S. Dollar.

Cash operating costs include mine production, transport and refinery costs, general and administrative costs, movement in inventories and ore stockpiles, transfers to and from deferred stripping and royalty payments. In the periods presented, Harmony’s costs within these categories, analyzed by nature, consisted of the following:

				Three months ended
				March 31,				December 31,				March 31,				December 31,
				2003				2002				2003				2002
				Rand								U.S. Dollars
				(in millions)								(in millions)
	Mine production costs
		Labor costs, including contractors			831				823				99				86
		Stores and materials			329				355				39				37
		Water and electricity			156				150				19				16
	Changes in inventory				(1	)			(3	)			—				—
	Other1				310				324				37				33
Cash operating costs					1,625				1,649				194				172

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1 Includes transport and refinery costs, transfers to and from deferred stripping, general and administrative costs and royalties.

Harmony’s management believes that “cost of sales” is the S.A. GAAP measure that is most directly comparable to cash operating costs. Under the method that Harmony uses to calculate cash operating costs, the resulting figure does not differ from the figure that would have been calculated under S.A. GAAP in the periods presented. This is the case for Harmony in the periods presented because all of the costs included in “cost of sales” under

Disclaimer

This document includes certain information that is based on management’s reasonable expectations and assumptions. These “forward-looking statements” include, but are not limited to, statements regarding estimates, intentions and beliefs, as well as anticipated future production, mine life, market conditions and costs. While management has prepared this information using the best of their experience and judgment, and in all good faith, there are risks and uncertainties involv ed which could cause results to differ from projections.

Cautionary Note to US Investors — The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We may use certain terms in this document, such as “resources”, that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclos ure in our public filings with the SEC available from us at Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited, Suite Nr. 1, Private Bag X 1, Melrose Arch, 2076 South Africa, for the attention of: Mr. Ferdi Dippenaar, Marketing Director. You can also obtain these filings from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.

 

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S.A. GAAP are also included with the Gold Institute’s definition of cash operating costs, as applied by Harmony. Harmony expects this will continue to be the case in the future; however, if Harmony’s operations were to include substantial operations other than gold mining and related activities, then “cost of sales” under S.A. GAAP would include costs from all operations, while cash operating costs for gold mining and related activities would include only those items that are within the Gold Institute’s definition of cash operating costs.

ENDS

     

     

     

     

Disclaimer

This document includes certain information that is based on management’s reasonable expectations and assumptions. These “forward-looking statements” include, but are not limited to, statements regarding estimates, intentions and beliefs, as well as anticipated future production, mine life, market conditions and costs. While management has prepared this information using the best of their experience and judgment, and in all good faith, there are risks and uncertainties involv ed which could cause results to differ from projections.

Cautionary Note to US Investors — The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We may use certain terms in this document, such as “resources”, that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclos ure in our public filings with the SEC available from us at Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited, Suite Nr. 1, Private Bag X 1, Melrose Arch, 2076 South Africa, for the attention of: Mr. Ferdi Dippenaar, Marketing Director. You can also obtain these filings from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.

 

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SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Dated: June 20, 2003

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited

By: /s/ Frank Abbott Name: Frank Abbott Title:   Chief Financial Officer