Platinum job losses discussed as three die in mine invasion
Business Day reported late on Wednesday, 1 August 2012, that three people died of wounds sustained from buckshot fired by security guards and police officers during a mine invasion at the Kwezi shaft at Aquarius Platinum's Kroondal mine - the company's only remaining operational mine in South Africa.
Another 20 were wounded. According to Business Day, Aquarius shares fell 2.75% on the JSE on Wednesday to R4.95 each.
Earlier, Independent Newspapers said the government, labour unions and mining houses announced that an effort will be made to limit job losses in the platinum mining sector. According to a joint statement issued by the department of mineral resources, the three sectors agreed that all measures to support the industry would be explored before retrenchments.
The three sectors will seek to limit the number of jobs to be lost through this process. They also agreed that other ways of cutting costs without reducing safety and health standards should be found, as well as seeking other ways to improve the demand for platinum. Another measure included adding value domestically to platinum before exporting it, Independent Newspapers reports.
Read the full article on www.iol.co.za.
Read the full article on www.businessday.co.za.
