South Africa’s Mining company Impala Platinum (Implats) has halted production at two shafts at its newly acquired Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine after 2,205 embarked on a protest underground.
In a statement by the firm, the workers remained underground at BRPM’s north and south shafts after launching the wildcat strike earlier on Monday.
In the 2022 financial year, BRPM produced about 266,000 ounces of platinum group metals when operated by Royal Bafokeng Platinum, acquired by Implats earlier this year.
“The occurrence of illegal underground protests and copycat illegal actions at mining operations in South Africa have become more prevalent in recent months and are a cause for both considerable concern for and disruption to the broader mining industry,” said Implats.
The gold production facilities of Gold One and the mines of Wesizwe Platinum witnessed underground civil disobedience. However, this is the first time the illegal activity has been extended to one of South Africa’s largest miners.
The sit-in is coming in a difficult year for Implats which suffered a disastrous disaster on November 27, at its Rustenburg operations in which 13 miners were killed when a conveyance cage plunged to the bottom of a shaft. The accident further left 75 injured. Similarly, the company has made cost-saving measures amid a drastic fall in PGM prices.
According to the company, the protest further endangered the economic feasibility of its mining operations. “The longer-term impacts of these acts pose a risk to sustainable employment, particularly given the low metal price environment currently facing PGM producers.”
Implats said the event fuelled the possibility of violence. Coordinated protest actions “pose serious safety concerns for our employees, not just due to the provision of basic nutrition, hydration, and ablution facilities, but also the risk to personal safety should the protest action escalate into hostage situations or result in physical violence”, it said.