IMPALA Platinum (Implats) will unveil details of a planned restructuring of its Rustenburg mine in September, said Bloomberg News in an article republished by Fin24.
“The industry has been under profitability and financial viability pressure for some time, especially the deeper labour intensive mines around Rustenburg,” said Johan Theron, spokesman for the company told Bloomberg News.
“While platinum group metals (PGMs) in rand terms have remained persistently, low cost inflation has continued to escalate unabated”, he said.
The world’s second-largest producer has already cut 2,500 jobs in the year to June said there may be more to come. Only three of the 10 shafts at its sprawling Rustenburg mining complex were making money as of March, said Bloomberg News in its article
Theron said the challenges facing the PGM sector meant the miner couldn’t discount the possibility of more job losses.
The company employs about 31,000 people at its Rustenburg operations. Implats said in March that a strategic review would look at measures to “… refocus or close unprofitable areas”, and could lead to shafts being closed earlier than planned.
