Industry veterans outline bleak outlook for SA’s deep-level mines and jobs
Employment will be the biggest casualty in the harsh scenario outlined by CEOs in SA’s gold and platinum sectors
In unusually frank comments from gold and platinum mining CEOs, the future of those two industries was mapped out in just a few minutes, with bleak consequences for their workforces. At the Joburg Indaba mining conference, industry veterans and top CEOs, with Chris Griffith and Nico Muller heading the world’s two largest platinum producers in Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum (Implats) respectively, and Peter Steenkamp from Harmony Gold, outlined a future without new deep-level, conventionally operated, labour-intensive mines. Muller and Steenkamp were unflinching in their appraisal of their respective sectors, either ruling out any new deep-level shafts in platinum or calling the end of SA’s once world-dominant gold sector — just a tiny handful of mines will still operate in a decade, having been the bedrock of SA’s economy for a century. Employment in the gold sector dived to 112,000 last year from nearly 400,000 jobs in 1994 as production plunged from 583 tons over the ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.