BusinessLive reports that precious metals producer Sibanye-Stillwater said on Tuesday its first-quarter gold production in SA would fall by nearly two-thirds because of a protracted wage strike.  

On Monday, the company had said that it would be asking the Labour Court to declare a stoppage by about 14,000 members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) at its three gold mines unprotected.  This came after SA’s largest gold producer claimed a victory when an independent verification process confirmed that Amcu was in the minority at its gold mines.  The union, however, claimed the verification process was “flawed”.  The company indicated on Tuesday that production from its SA gold operations in the first quarter of 2019 was expected to be about 104,000oz, or just 36% of what had been produced a year before.  “Unit operating and all in sustaining costs will be negatively impacted by the reduced production levels,” it reported.

• Read the original of Nick Hedley’s short report on the above at BusinessLive

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