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Summarize Information relating to Options Outstanding (Detail) - The Gold Fields Limited 2005 Share Plan - $ / shares	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Outstanding SARS, Weighted average exercise price	$ 6.03	$ 7.89	$ 8.89	$ 12.53
Stock Appreciation Rights
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Outstanding SARS, Number of options	1,025,178	1,818,261	3,151,728	4,318,909
Outstanding SARS, Contractual life	10 months 2 days	1 year 5 months 23 days
Outstanding SARS, Weighted average exercise price	$ 6.03	$ 7.89
Stock Appreciation Rights | Range One
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Outstanding SARS, Price range, lower limit	3.97	5.19
Outstanding SARS, Price range, upper limit	$ 5.63	$ 7.35
Outstanding SARS, Number of options	448,296	580,833
Outstanding SARS, Contractual life	2 months 19 days	1 year 2 months 19 days
Outstanding SARS, Weighted average exercise price	$ 5.03	$ 6.56
Stock Appreciation Rights | Range Two
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Outstanding SARS, Price range, lower limit	5.64	7.36
Outstanding SARS, Price range, upper limit	$ 7.28	$ 9.51
Outstanding SARS, Number of options	33,641	454,131
Outstanding SARS, Contractual life	7 months 6 days	3 months 29 days
Outstanding SARS, Weighted average exercise price	$ 5.86	$ 8.17
Stock Appreciation Rights | Range Three
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Outstanding SARS, Price range, lower limit	7.29	9.52
Outstanding SARS, Price range, upper limit	$ 8.94	$ 11.68
Outstanding SARS, Number of options	531,720	769,159
Outstanding SARS, Contractual life	1 year 4 months 6 days	2 years 3 months 29 days
Outstanding SARS, Weighted average exercise price	$ 6.84	$ 8.94
Stock Appreciation Rights | Range Four
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Outstanding SARS, Price range, lower limit	8.95	11.69
Outstanding SARS, Price range, upper limit	$ 10.60	$ 13.84
Outstanding SARS, Number of options	11,521	14,138
Outstanding SARS, Contractual life	2 years 4 days	3 years 4 days
Outstanding SARS, Weighted average exercise price	$ 7.84	$ 10.25

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Number of options outstanding, including both vested and non-vested options.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5070-113901

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Weighted average price at which grantees can acquire the shares reserved for issuance under the stock option plan.

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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The floor of a customized range of exercise prices for purposes of disclosing shares potentially issuable under outstanding stock option awards on all stock option plans and other required information pertaining to awards in the customized range.

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The ceiling of a customized range of exercise prices for purposes of disclosing shares potentially issuable under outstanding stock option awards on all stock option plans and other required information pertaining to awards in the customized range.

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Weighted average remaining contractual term for option awards outstanding, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

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