* Amplats CEO says platinum sector “in crisis”
* Amplats says could start firing unlawful strikers
* ANC rebel to address Implats’ workers on Thursday
* About 75,000 miners off the job in S.Africa
By Ed Stoddard and Sherilee Lakmidas
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 26 (Reuters) – An illegal strike spread
through AngloGold Ashanti’s South African operations on
Wednesday, while Anglo American Platinum said it could start
firing unlawful strikers on Thursday, as the country’s miners
grapple to rein in weeks of labour unrest.
A wave of wildcat action is roiling South Africa’s mines
despite the end of an illegal six-week stoppage at platinum
producer Lonmin in which 46 people were killed
and the price of the white metal was pushed higher.
Mining shares tanked in Johannesburg on Wednesday, with
Amplats extending steep losses to over 6 percent after
its chief executive Chris Griffith described the country’s
platinum sector as “in crisis”.
Most of AngloGold’s 35,000 workers have joined the wildcat
action that began last week at its Kopanang mine. The company is
the world’s No.3 bullion producer and South Africa accounted for
about 32 percent of its global output of close to 2 million
ounces of gold in the first half of 2012.
Continued…
