https://www.miningweekly.com

Rio Tinto says minerals sands operation in South Africa shut by protests

11th July 2018

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

JOHANNESBURG – A mineral sands operation on the South African coast run by Rio Tinto has been closed since Friday due to violent community protests which saw a security guard killed earlier this week, the company and a union said on Wednesday.

Community unrest is a common feature of South Africa's social landscape, which is marred by high jobless rates and glaring income disparities, underscoring the social risks for investors in the country's mining sector.

"Due to the escalation in activity around the blockades on the access roads, staff were sent home on Friday. Our highest priority is the safety of our people," a Rio spokesperson said. The operation, Richards Bay Minerals, is on South Africa's Indian Ocean coast.

Mzi Zakwe, the regional secretary for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), told Reuters the union's 900 members were on forced leave because of the violence, which he said was rooted in grievances between the company and contractors.

Unrest has hit the area before, which is also near South Africa's main coal terminal.

Elsewhere in South Africa, the eastern limb of the platinum belt was hit by more than 400 incidents of social unrest impacting mining operations since between the start of 2016 and April this year, according to data compiled by Anglo American Platinum and reviewed by Reuters.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION