Sibanye StillwaterNews24 reports that Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater, said on Monday that he was "deeply saddened and traumatised" to have lost so many mineworkers at the precious metals producer’s operations.  

During a conference call to address recent safety incidents and other relevant issues, he stated:  "In my entire 40-year career in mining, I have never experienced anything like this.  I am deeply saddened and traumatised to have lost so many Sibanye-Stillwater family members in this way."  The death toll at the company’s operations this year alone stands at 21, which is close to half of the fatalities in the entire mining industry.  The spate of deaths at Sibanye has sparked outrage from labour unions and has led to a potential class action lawsuit in the US.  "We are taking structured and well-defined steps to restore our safety performance," Froneman said.  Among these, the company has appointed an expert in mining safety, Cobus de Jager, as corporate head of safety.  His primary focus will be to fully review the company's safety management systems and processes.


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