JOHANNESBURG Aug 25 (Reuters) – More than half of the
workers at some of Lonmin’s South African Marikana mine
shafts reported for work on Saturday, the company said, as it
seeks to resume full operations in the wake of protests in which
44 people were killed last week.
“Eastern shafts are working this weekend and we have 57
percent attendance across these shafts. The rest of the mine is
closed as this is their off-weekend,” Lonmin, which accounts for
about 12 percent of global platinum output, said in a statement.
About 23 percent of its 28,000-strong workforce turned up
for shifts on Friday, which fell short of the 80 percent that
the Solidarity union of highly skilled workers says is required
to extract ore from the ground.
Lonmin froze mining operations earlier this month after an
illegal strike escalated into violence and paralysed operations
at the world’s third-biggest platinum producer, driving the
price of the white metal around 10 percent higher.
© Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
