JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE- and TSX-listed Rockwell Diamonds said on Tuesday it had reached an agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) to implement continuous operations in the Northern Cape, as well as concluded a two-year wage agreement.

Rockwell CEO James Campbell said the agreement, once implemented, would derive many benefits to all stakeholders, including employment opportunities in the province, which has an unemployment rate of 43%.

“For Rockwell, it will be equally beneficial as increasing our production off the same fixed cost base will enable us to optimise the returns on our investments in our mines."

The company’s Northern Cape operations comprise the Saxendrift and Klipdam mines.

Campbell said that continuous operation at the Klipdam mine, would make it more feasible to increase the life-of-mine in the short to medium term, while at Saxendrift, opportunities have been identified to improve margins.

The application for the conversion to continuous operations has been submitted to the Department of Mineral Resources.

Once implemented, the mines would be operated on four shifts a day, seven days a week, up from the current three shifts a day and five-day working week.

Meanwhile, wages would increase by 8% a year for two years until 2013.

The agreement allows for an adjustment should the consumer price index exceed the agreed rate.

Campbell believed the company reached a “mutually agreeable settlement” following a protracted negotiation process with the NUM.

"We believe that the result was fair and equitable, taking into account the wellbeing of our workforce, but not to the detriment of our efforts to improve the financial performance of the company.”

Rockwell Diamonds reported a net profit of C$2-million for the second quarter of 2012.
 

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