* Aquarius, Xstrata reopen mines near Rustenburg
* All Lonmin mines remain closed; pay talks resume
* Amplats says Rustenburg ops to resume on Tuesday
* One workers’ head says that will be resisted
By Agnieszka Flak
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Two South African mines
reopened on Monday after labour strife forced them to suspend
operations last week, but striking miners vowed to keep
operations run by world No. 1 platinum producer Anglo American
Platinum (Amplats) shut.
Wage talks were set to resume in a bid to end a violent
5-week strike that has killed 45 people around the Marikana mine
of platinum producer Lonmin, bringing its production to
a halt and pushing up the price of the precious white metal.
The unrest has its roots in a bloody turf war for members
between an upstart union and the dominant National Union of
Mineworkers (NUM) but it is now unclear who the strikers are
taking their direction from.
Police used tear gas and rubber bullets over the weekend as
part of an operation to disarm miners, implementing the
government’s decision to get tough on strikes that choked off
platinum output in the world’s top producer. The army has also
been brought in to help restore order.
Continued…
