The once-prized Rustenburg assets of Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) are being hocked. “The workers haven’t pitched and the owners want us ditched” is the lament of the central shaft in this Mining Weekly cartoon. The mechanised Mogalakwena to the north is the new Amplats darling, from which the company thinks it can mine at a rate of 600 000 oz a year, leaving all its Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) troubles behind. The deep, dark and dangerous Rustenburg mines are the new target of Sibanye Gold, which seems keen on scrubbing out the gold in its title and replacing it with Sibanye Precious Metals. Meanwhile, AMCU was showing no signs of relenting at the time of going to press and was instead setting up a fund to keep the wolf from the door of its striking members.