[miningmx.com] – NORTHAM Platinum said it had experienced interruptions to production at its Booysendal mine following protests by community members in the surrounding town of Steelpoort.
“Protesters have been blocking roads and disrupting transport which has prevented employees getting to work,” it said in a statement. “There have also been incidents of damage to the Lebalelo pipeline which supplies water to eastern limb operations.”
On July 20, South Africa mines minister, Ngoako Ramatlhodi, called for calm in the region saying that while it was the right of people to protest, acts of violence were to be condemned. He was due to visit the region today.
Said Northam: “Whilst mining operations have been disrupted, milling from the surface stockpile is continuing”.
It is thought that the protests relate to a number of abandoned projects, such as tarring of new roads, that residents want reinstated.
