Bloomberg reports that the struggling gold mining sector would be forced to close more mine shafts if labour unions’ wage demands were implemented, according to the top producer of the precious metal.  

The largest union in the gold industry, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), last week said it was deadlocked over pay with producers, including Sibanye Gold, AngloGold Ashanti and Harmony Gold, after a number of rounds of talks.  Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman said on Thursday:  “You can get quick wins from negotiations but then we end up having to close shafts and businesses - that’s not in the national interest.  Their demands will lead to shaft closures.”  Sibanye, which employs more than 40,000 workers at its gold mining operations in SA, was not generating cash, Froneman claimed.  “A strike is not going to intimidate us - it never has and never will, it’s not the right mechanism to resolve these issues.  We are flexible within the constraints of the business.  The unions haven’t moved at all, they need to be flexible,” Froneman observed.

• Read this report by Felix Njini in full at Fin24

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