Aquarius, Amplats To Resume Operations, Lonmin Reaffirms Offer
Platinum miner Aquarius resumed mining operations at its Kroondal mine, near Rustenburg, on Monday morning, while Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) said it would resume operations on Tuesday.
Both companies suspended operations last week after unrest spread through the platinum belt.
Amplats CEO Chris Griffiths said the firm believed that it would be safe for employees to report for duty with government enforcing increased security measures in the Rustenburg area. The company would continue monitoring the situation to ensure safety and security for its employees.
Meanwhile, Lonmin would continue wage negotiations with striking employees on Monday. The company has retabled its initial offer, pointing out that the striking workers’ demands of R12 500 were unsustainable and would result in a trade-off between wages and jobs.
The troubled company, which received a final interdict order on Friday confirming an interim order declaring the strike illegal, said that the offer would see increases of between 9% and 21% and included earlier wage increase agreements of 9% to 10%.
Interim CEO Simon Scott commented that more than 25 000 of the 28 000-strong employee base, as well as 10 000 contractors were not participating in the unprotected strike and were being prevented from reporting for duty through initimidation and violence from the striking workers.
Lonmin offered rock-drill operators (RDOs) a 21% increase, which added more than R1 800, excluding bonuses, to their salary package, which included basic salary, medical aid and housing allowance.
A monthly drilling allowance of R750 for RDOs and rock-drill assistants would also be implemented should the workers accept the offer.
Entry-level mining jobs would be promoted from an A3 category to an A4 category, resulting in an increase in total guaranteed pay of 16%.
Source: MiningWeekly
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