* Mines minister has said industry inspections to rise
* Platinum production down sharply in October
(Recasts background, details)
By Ed Stoddard
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Northam Platinum
, one of South Africa’s smaller platinum producers, said
on Monday its only producing mine has been hit by several
stoppages due to government safety inspections, part of a wider
campaign that has hit the sector.
Analysts have speculated that a sharp fall in overall
platinum production in South Africa in October was the result of
increased stoppages related to surprise inspections as part of a
government drive to boost safety.
“Northam’s Zondereinde mine has, for a number of months,
been the subject of unannounced inspections from the DMR’s
safety inspectorate,” Marion Brower, a spokesperson for Northam,
said.
“These have frequently resulted in DMR-enforced safety
stoppages in certain sections of the mine,” she said in an
e-mailed response to questions from Reuters.
Mines minister Susan Shabangu said in November her
Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) would be increasing health
and safety audits of mines in the face of a “culture of
non-compliance”.
Northam did not say how many ounces it had lost in output
from the stoppages.
Continued…
