Partial production has begun at the Marikana platinum mine following an illegal strike that affected production earlier in the week.

The operation, which is jointly owned by Aquarius Platinum and Anglo Platinum, has seen workers down tools since the Sunday night shift over a bonus dispute.

Anton Wheeler, managing director at Aquarius Platinum South Africa, said: "We have lost 500 pgm oz a day for about five days, half of which is attributable to us. It's a loss that will definitely affect the production for this quarter."

Speaking to Reuters, Mr Wheeler explained that the mine is now producing some output, but the amount is still below the 500 oz per day that it is capable of.

More workers will be hired next week, Mr Wheeler added, after the 1,300 contract workers that were involved in the illegal strike were dismissed.

The strike has cost over 2,500 oz of lost output at the mine, which is due to close on Friday as part of a planned shutdown for the Christmas period, with operations beginning again on December 27th.

Source:
Aquarius/Angloplat mine loses 2,500 PGM oz in strike, 21/12/07
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL2110230420071221

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