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JOHANNESBURG Feb 29 (Reuters) – Impala Platinum
Holdings Ltd said on Wednesday it would restart
production on March 5 and end a six-week shutdown at its
Rustenburg mine, the world’s biggest platinum mine.
The strike ruled illegal by a court has cost the company
100,000 ounces in lost production, or 2 billion rand ($263.66
million) in lost income, and claimed the lives of three
mineworkers.
It has also cost workers about 2,200 jobs with the company
agreeing to only rehire 15,000 of the 17,200 dismissed for
staying away.
The dispute revealed cracks in the leadership of the
powerful and politically connected National Union of Mineworkers
(NUM), one of the country’s largest unions.
The upstart Association of Mineworkers and Construction
Union tried to enlist NUM members who had become disenchanted
with the influential union many miners felt was too close to
management and not concerned enough about the plights of
workers.
The company said about 13,500 workers had so far reapplied
for their jobs, and of those, more than 3,000 were rock drill
operators, vital to getting operations back on track.
The stay away started with a spat over pay increases awarded
to only part of the skilled workforce and ended in the strike
marred by violence and intimidation that left more than 60
injured.
Spot platinum prices have gained about 16 percent
since the troubles at Rustenburg began on Jan. 12.
Shares in Implats gained 1.95 percent to 48.90 rand on
Wednesday, outperforming the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top
40 index, which closed 0.2 percent up.
(Reporting By Sherilee Lakmidas; Editing by Jon Herskovitz)
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