(Adds detail and background)
JOHANNESBURG, APRIL 10 – Modikwa Platinum Mine, which is a
joint venture between Anglo American Platinum and
African Rainbow Minerals, on Tuesday said it had lost
up to 21,000 platinum group ounces to a three-week strike at the
operation.
This equates to 6 percent of the mine’s 350,000-ounce annual
platinum group metal production.
The strike by about 3,000 mineworkers at the mine, located
along the border between the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces of
South Africa, has now been called off.
African Rainbow Minerals said the legal strike over wages
had been resolved with a two-year pay agreement with the
National Union of Mineworkers. Details of the agreement were not
immediately disclosed.
Striking employees are expected to return to work on
Wednesday.
Impala Platinum, the world’s second largest
producer of the precious metal, lost 120,000 ounces earlier this
year to a six-week illegal strike at its Rustenburg operations.
Shares in Amplats closed 3 percent lower at 515 rand while
African Rainbow Minerals’ shares ended one percent down at
175.74 rand, both underperforming the JSE’s All Share Index,
which closed 0.35 percent lower on the day.
Spot platinum was trading at $1,583 an ounce after
the Johannesburg market close.
(Reporting by Sherilee Lakmidas, editing by Ed Stoddard)
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