Amplats to cut 420 managerial jobs as market bites

[miningmx.com] – ANGLO American Platinum (Amplats) is to cut up to 420 managerial and supervisory jobs in its Rustenburg Platinum Mines subsidiary following the previously announced consolidation of its operations.

The restructuring does not affect the Rustenburg assets earmarked for disposal – the Rustenburg and Union mines – which have been ring-fenced from the Section 189 process issued in terms of South Africa’s Labour Relations Act.

“The proposed redesign takes into account the financial difficulties in the PGM [platinum group metal] industry and is a continuation of Anglo American Platinum’s value-driven strategy,” the company said in an announcement to the JSE today.

“It aims to improve the company’s financial sustainability by aligning the support structure with the proposed reconfiguring of operations into large, more efficient mining complexes benefiting from increased scale and less complexity,” it said.

In terms of the consolidation plan, Amplats’ Tumela and Dishaba mines and the Amandelbult concentrator will be consolidated and re-designed into the Amandelbult operation while the group’s high margin Mogalakwena mine and concentrator will be consolidated into the Mogalakwena operation.

In addition, the regional functional centres in Rustenburg, Amandelbult and Polokwane will be closed and their functions incorporated into the adjacent operations and corporate office, Amplats said.

“As these measures may lead to job losses, the company will be offering voluntary severance packages and will introduce comprehensive support measures to limit the impact of the proposed restructuring on affected employees,” Amplats said.

It anticipated that a 60 day consultation process would end on August 22.

“In addition to the anticipated reduction in support staff, the company is seeking to further substantially reduce indirect costs allocated to the operations,” said Amplats.