Please enter your login details

You can also sign in with your Sowetan LIVE
and Sport LIVE account details.
   Sign Up   Forgot password?

Sign in with:

 
  • All Share : 40998.58
    UNCHANGED0.00%
    Top 40 : 3361.59
    UNCHANGED0.00%
    Financial 15 : 11703.85
    UNCHANGED0.00%
    Industrial 25 : 46637.62
    UNCHANGED0.00%

  • ZAR/USD : 9.5763
    UP 0.07%
    ZAR/GBP : 14.4987
    UP 0.23%
    ZAR/EUR : 12.3835
    UP 0.04%
    ZAR/JPY : 0.0947
    UP 0.14%
    ZAR/AUD : 9.2551
    UP 0.14%

  • Gold : 1386.6000
    UP 0.03%
    Platinum : 1452.5000
    UP 0.31%
    Silver : 22.4000
    UP 0.16%
    Palladium : 727.0000
    UP 0.55%
    Brent Crude Oil : 102.640
    UNCHANGED0.00%

  • All data is delayed by 15 min. Data supplied by I-Net Bridge
    Hover cursor over this ticker to pause.

Sun May 26 10:33:31 SAST 2013

All quiet on the mining front

Sapa | 20 October, 2012 14:19

Image by: Gallo Images/Thinkstock

There were no further developments or reported incidents on Saturday relating to the recent strikes which have affected the mining industry.

"Nothing has changed over the last 24 hours and we're obviously hoping all the workers, including those from KDC East, will go back to work on Monday," said Gold Fields spokesman Sven Lunsche.

"Both KDC West and Beatrix are working again and it's all quiet there."

Gold Fields had issued a final ultimatum to striking workers at its KDC East mine on Friday.

"Gold Fields, with the support of the board of directors, this afternoon issued a final ultimatum to present themselves for work starting with the night shift on Monday, 22 October 2012, and the morning and afternoon shifts on Tuesday... or face immediate dismissal," it said in a statement last week.

AngloGold Ashanti's spokesman Alan Fine on Saturday said there were no further incidents at their mine near Orkney, where National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) officials and Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi had been pelted with stones by protesters on Friday.

Workers at Kopanong had told the NUM and Cosatu officials they would be returning to work on Monday while Vaal Reefs number eight said they would remain on strike.

All employees at Lonmin's Marikana mine in the North West returned to work on Friday after operations were again disrupted at the mine near Rustenburg on Thursday.

The sporadic labour disruptions were apparently in protest against the arrest of three mineworkers for their part in the August 10 illegal strike which had turned violent.

Ten people, including two policemen, were killed between August 10 and 14.

On August 16, 34 mineworkers were killed when the police opened fire on them, and 78 were wounded.

The strike ended on September 20, when the mine offered the workers salary increases of up to 22%.

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) last week agreed to delay dismissal proceedings pending the outcome of talks with trade unions.

Despite calls for workers to return, attendance levels remained below 20%.

"We are faced with extremely complex challenges that require innovative solutions that will address the very real economic issues affecting the entire platinum industry," Amplats chief executive Chris Griffith said.

"We believe that it is only right for us to engage with our recognised unions and work together to find the best way forward."

Workers have been on strike since September demanding a monthly salary of R16 00.

SHARE YOUR OPINION

If you have an opinion you would like to share on this article, please send us an e-mail to the Times LIVE iLIVE team. In the mean time, click here to view the Times LIVE iLIVE section.