By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The management of Impala Platinum has confirmed that a total of 63 miners have resurfaced overnight from Impala Platinum’s mine, (Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine) (BRPM) in Rustenburg.
More than 2 200 platinum miners started an underground protest on Monday, over grievances relating to shares.
The mine has since suspended operations at the two shafts of the mine.
BRPM produced about 266,000 ounces of platinum group metals in its 2022 financial year when operated by Royal Bafokeng Platinum, acquired by Implats earlier this year.
Implats spokesperson Johan Theron says they are concerned over the workers’ safety.
“I can confirm that 63 people have come up overnight. We still have over 2-thousand people underground, but the union has engaged with the people underground and hopefully we would be able to hear the complaints and resolve the matter today.”
The company warned it will “address those employees who engage in illegal conduct and criminal acts in a decisive way”.
South Africa has seen a growing number of wildcat strikes by miners who occupy the mines, blocking production.
“Illegal underground protests and copycat illegal actions … have become more prevalent in recent months and are a cause for both considerable concern for and disruption to the broader mining industry,” added Theron.
More than 100 gold miners spent nearly three days underground in Springs in October as part of a dispute between rival unions.
Another 440 staged a protest in another gold mine this month, while 250 platinum workers demanding better wages occupied a shaft for three days at the same time.
The sit-in caps a difficult year for Implats which on November 27 suffered a catastrophic accident at at 11 shaft in Impala Platinum’s (Implats’) Rustenburg Mines. A total of 13 miners died as the result of a conveyance failure and a further 75 were injured. In addition, the company has announced cost cutting measures amid a drastic decline in PGM prices.
It said protest action further imperilled the economic viability of its mining operations. “The longer-term impacts of these acts pose a risk to sustainable employment, particularly given the low metal price environment currently facing PGM producers,” it said.