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Strike costs Amplats R1.1bn

16 Oct 2012

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) cautioned last week that the strike at its mines had cost the company R1,1bn and most of the company's mining and processing operations Rustenburg had insufficient staff to operate safely so it was providing "essential services only".

Amplats said that despite the company's repeated calls for employees to return to work‚ attendance levels had remained below 20%.

The company confirmed that that as a result of the illegal industrial action of its employees and the initial safety suspension‚ total lost platinum production has amounted to 67‚000 ounces‚ resulting in about R1.1bn of lost revenue. The average loss of platinum production is 3‚800 ounces per day.

The ongoing illegal strike by Anglo American Platinum employees would also adversely affect the company's delivery obligations regarding the supply of chrome ore and as a result force majeure notices have been issued to its chrome customers. The company's ability to deliver platinum group metals (PGMs) and base metals remains unaffected at this stage.

The company fired 12‚000 of its striking employees in the Rustenburg area due to non-attendance and non-representation at the disciplinary hearings. These employees were given three days to appeal the decision and a subsequent extension was provided to give employees who still wished to appeal‚ the opportunity to do so.

"Disciplinary hearings at Union Mine have now concluded and employees will be advised of the outcomes in due course.
Employees at Amandelbult Mine (Tumela/Dishaba)‚ who have been engaged in illegal strike action since 3 October‚ have been making representations to the company since Thursday last week and in line with the process carried out at Rustenburg‚ employees will have the opportunity to appeal‚" Chris Griffith, Amplats chief executive said.

"We are calling for calm in those affected areas and continue to work closely with our tripartite partners - government and the recognised labour unions - to help restore law and order on our mines. Our commitment to the platinum centralised engagement structures‚ driven by the Chamber of Mines‚ has not changed and‚ as we have mentioned‚ we are considering the possibility of bringing forward wage negotiations that are within our current arrangements," he added.

Source: I-Net Bridge

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