[miningmx.com] – VILLAGE Main Reef said it had suffered revenue losses of about R10.5m as a result of the recently ended 12-day sit-in at its Consolidated Murchison antimony and gold mine.
There was a stockpile at the mine but this had not been processed as surface workers had also joined the strike, the company said. Shares in Village Main fell about 10% so far and were last trading at 42 cents/share.
About 134 workers started an underground protest at the Monarch surface decline shaft at Consolidated Murchison saying they ought to be paid out dividends from their employee ownership programme.
A further 200 employees belonging to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) joined the strike by refusing to go underground.
Village Main argued that the company couldn’t pay out dividends as the mine had not booked a profit.
Ferdi Dippenaar, MD of Village Main’s gold division, told Eyewitness News dismissals of striking workers was unlikely but the next few days would be spent reviewing what had happened. Workers had lost about R2m in wages so far in the strike. An independent mediator had been appointed to resolve the dispute, he said.
The end of the sit-in protest has been hailed as an early victory for the framework agreement on peace and stability at South Africa’s mines signed by government, employers and unions, except for the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (AMCU).
As part of a joint operation, the South African Police Services (SAPS) were called in to help resolve the situation which was overseen by the mineral resources department (DMR) and unions.
“We are grateful for the support we have received from the SAPS, Government, through the DMR, and from the unions,” said Dippenaar in a statement on July 20.
“This is clear evidence that all, as signatories to Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe’s Framework Agreement for the Mining Industry, are in accord that unprotected strike action in the industry will not be countenanced and that the rule of law will be applied,’ he said.
