BL Premium reports that mining companies are applying the tough lessons they learnt in 2020 as they return 450,000 people to work after the year-end break.  

Unlike the return to work between April and August 2020 after SA was forced into a hard lockdown, bringing back miners after the Christmas break has been a smoother process.  Mining companies were among the first sectors of the economy to return to full operations 2020 in carefully managed phases, governed by strict protocols laid down by the departments of health and mineral resources & energy.  “The industry’s focus is back to prevention of infection, which is social distancing, masks and sanitation, as well as robust screening and testing protocols,” said Minerals Council of SA spokesperson Charmane Russell.  “What we have this time around is the wonderful benefit of hindsight. All the systems that were in place 2020 are still in place but with improvements. This time it’s not so much about the learning how to cope with something we’ve never experienced before, but the doing,” Russell said.  The majority of large mines have only been back at work for about a week, but others started earlier or worked right through the break.  Sibanye-Stillwater spokesperson James Wellsted indicated:  “It’s quicker this time round than the return to work in 2020. It’s less of a phased approach that was dictated by lockdown levels in 2020.”  At Gold Fields’ South Deep, which has a complement of 4,053 people, there is a 90% return of staff.  

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Allan Seccombe at BusinessLive (paywall access only)

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