Miners at Wesizwe Platinum’s flagship Bakubung mine have entered their second day of what the mining company deemed an illegal sit-in.
“The sit-in commenced on Wednesday at or about 8.26am, when employees chose not to return to surface at the end of their shift,” the junior platinum group metals (PGM) producer, valued at about R730m on the JSE, said on Thursday.
“Demands have been made by the participating employees. Management, together with local union representatives, are engaging with the purpose of returning all employees to surface,” it said.
The company did not elaborate on what miners are demanding and how many are involved.
The Bakubung mine is about 35km northwest of Rustenburg in the North West, in the Bushveld Complex.
This comes after a recent month-long unprotected strike at the same mine that ended in August.
Bakubung Platinum Mine is in the early stages of production after numerous delays, caused in part by technical glitches at its processing plant and Covid-19 in 2020.
The construction of the mine started in 2011 and it was initially scheduled to come into full production in late 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic threw a spanner in the works, followed by community protests.
The project is expected to produce 420,000 ounces of PGM a year once it reaches full production, with a life cycle of 30 years.
China Africa Jinchuan Investments provided Wesizwe with a $227m (R4.3bn) cash injection in exchange for a 45% stake, while the China Development Bank provided $650m in project development funding.
The Bakubung mine, a twin-shaft system, will deliver 1-million tonnes of ore a year to the processing plant, which has the same capacity.
With Andries Mahlangu
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