* Amplats signals to close loss-making shafts
* Lowers output target to 2.4/2.5 mln oz
* Says production will remain at same level for 3 yrs
* Aquarius sees “winter of labour discontent”
* Aquarius, Amplats shares drop
(Recasts, writes through)
By Sherilee Lakmidas and Ed Stoddard
JOHANNESBURG, July 23 (Reuters) – Anglo American Platinum
(Amplats), the world’s top platinum producer, signaled
on Monday it plans to trim loss-making shafts as producers of
the metal grapple with depressed prices and a rise in union
militancy.
Amplats, an Anglo American unit which unveiled
interim results that as expected showed an almost 80 percent
fall in earnings, confirmed it experienced a brief strike last
week around its Rustenburg operations as inter-union rivalry
spreads through the platinum belt.
Acting Chief Executive Bongani Nqwababa told Reuters the
strike was limited and was related to recruiting, but said
Amplats did not yet recognize the upstart Association of
Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) which is locked in a
turf war with the dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
Continued…
