JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum miners Lonmin and Impala Platinum (Implats) on Thursday stated that they expected to lose in the region of 3 100 oz/d and 2 800 oz/d in platinum production respectively, during the strike for higher wages by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

AMCU on Monday issued Lonmin, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Implats with strike notices, with the protected strike having begun on Thursday morning.

AMCU was calling for a wage of R12 500 for entry-level workers at all three platinum producers.

Implats, Amplats and Lonmin were offering between 8% and 8.5% for employees in the A- and B-band bargaining unit, which comprised category 4 to 8 employees, and 7.5% for C-band employees, which included miners, artisans and officials.

Accommodation and other allowances would also be increased and the offers to the platinum workers were above the current inflation rate of 5.3%, as had been the case in preceding years.

Implats, which recorded 10% attendance on Thursday, said in a statement that operations at the affected shafts would focus on cleaning, maintenance, development and essential support services.

“Implats will be stockpiling flotation concentrate from other mining operations and the processing plant should have sufficient capacity to make up the backlog once operations resume,” the miner said.

Department of Labour (DoL) spokesperson Musa Zondi on Thursday told Mining Weekly Online that AMCU had agreed to a meeting with the employers to be arranged by government. However, the DoL was still waiting on AMCU to provide it with a suitable date and, therefore, the meeting would probably not take place on Friday as was originally planned.

Amplats spokesperson Mpumi Sithole told Mining Weekly Online that the platinum producer could not give an indication of the impact of the strike on the company’s production at this stage.