Mining Weekly reports that production at Sibanye’s Cooke operations, near Randfontein, will resume on 3 July 2017.  This will follow nearly a month-long unprotected strike by workers after they were prohibited from taking food underground.  

The ban on food being taken underground by employees was aimed at preventing food from being provided to illegal miners by employees, following signs of collusion.  Sibanye said on Friday that 77 employees have been arrested so far this year for assisting illegal miners.  Further, following the food ban, 472 illegal miners have surfaced from underground and have been arrested.  Following the illegal strike, which started on 6 June, 99 employees have been dismissed and 407 placed on final warnings, while 869 have forfeited their annual leave to compensate for nonproductive shifts.  About 300 kg of planned gold production, equivalent to about R160-million in revenue, was lost as a result of the strike.

• Read this report in full at Mining Weekly
• See too, Illegal strike at Cooke Mine sees Sibanye lose R160m, at Fin24

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