OMF reports that state-owned diamond miner Alexkor Limited, in Alexander Bay in in the Northern Cape, has denied reports that it was planning to retrench about 300 mineworkers.  

Speaking on behalf of Mervyn Carstens, the CEO of the pooling and sharing joint venture (PSJV) between Alexkor and the Richtersveld Mining Company, company secretary Raygen Phillips said they had not issued a formal notice of retrenchments, despite information doing the rounds alleging the contrary.  Contractor, diamond diver and community advisor David Pells claimed the mine was so indebted that salaries were paid late in January.  But, Phillips said all employees of the mine received their January and February salaries timeously, further cementing the assertion that retrenchments were not in the pipeline.  In 2003, the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered a landmark judgment that restored the Richtersveld community’s right to the mineral resources of the land and ordered that Alexkor must compensate the people for damage done.  As a result, in 2011, a PSJV between the community and the mine was formed.

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