Platmin says operations will be disrupted

Production and Markets

Publishing Date: 04 Jul 2011 4:33pm GMT
Author: Mining Journal

Platmin Ltd said its operations would “inevitably” be disrupted following the recent actions by “certain employees” at the Pilansberg platinum mine.

The company says it is assisting contractor MCC Contracts Ltd, who is engaged with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and with the police, to identify the individuals involved. Several arrests have already been made.

The workers are said to have disrupted operations by intimidating supervisors, through illegal industrial action and by damaging property and equipment.

The damage to MCC-owned and leased operational and personally-allocated vehicles is being assessed, according to Platmin.

The company added: “Drilling and blasting equipment, which is fundamental to the mining activity, was not affected.”

Mining activities were affected by the action but the concentrator operated at full capacity throughout the period by processing stockpiled, oxidised reef and “in fact despatched record metal in concentrate during June”.

“Inevitably though, mining operations will be disrupted for a period, and the build-up of ore stockpiles accordingly delayed,” said the company.