6/11/2002 11:41:18 AM By Sue Thomas
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There have been several union actions recently. On the gold-wire the demands of the unions are opportunistic. To me the answer is the same as when I gave up wearing gold decades ago: If you have an industry that depends on workers who have to live away from their families, in dorms, then you're not paying enough. Sounds like this is still the system. Anybody know what the real situation of an African miner is like? I wonder if union activists find the work more dangerous than the average miner? Where's Patrick by the by? I cringe when I read about Black, I think they use the word entitlement, have to check. Anyway, it's a SA program apparently to include some black participation in the SA gold rush. Like, how about, it's the African people's damn gold. Judging from what I know of Durbin Deep,(SA miner whose share have gone up over 400%, even with the recent incredibly blunt pull-back in gold) the international banker type guy from London took over from the plain old exploitative white SA crook, though the good ole SA boy did manage to get the new CEO, Wellesley-Wood blocked from returning to the country for a coupla days. Now the "good governance" white guy is going after the good ole boy SA white guy for fraud.
JOHANNESBURG, June 11 (Reuters) - A spate of deaths in South African gold and platinum mines could be related to a surge in metals prices prompting firms to ramp up output, the country's chief mine inspector and a major trade union said on Tuesday.
Recent accidents include two at AngloGold's <ANGJ.J> Great Noligwa mine, where eight miners have died in two rock falls caused by earth tremors since May 17.
The second accident at Great Noligwa on June 5 occurred on the same day a fire at Gold Field's <GFIJ.J> Kloof mine killed a miner and a rescue worker.
Four died in an Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd <IMPJ.J> mine in May, forcing the temporary closure of a shaft on June 3.
"I suspect it has a great deal to do with favourable conditions in the market place. A lot more areas have been opened up underground and there is a greater intensity of work," chief mine inspector May Hermanus told Reuters.
"It's not uncommon in any industrial activity, where periods of high output correspond with poor safety. But the consequences are severe in mining."
Gold recent surge peaked at $331.40 an ounce on June 4 -- its highest level since October 1999 -- buoyed by a sickly dollar, wilting equities markets and political tensions from Kashmir to the Middle East.
Platinum followed, sent higher by a bullish outlook for the metal issued by refiner Johnson Matthey earlier this month.
The price of gold has since retreated, but has remained consistently above $310 an ounce and analysts say many of the factors that propelled it upwards remain in place. On Tuesday, spot gold <XAU=> was at $316.70 at 1521 GMT.
The weakness of the local rand currency has boosted gold miners' profitability and, with higher prices, gold miners have moved into areas that were previously unprofitable to mine.
"In the last few months we've see a general rise in mine accidents, like avoidable machinery related accidents. The mines need to take stock and put a brake on things," Hermanus said, speaking on her return from an inspection of Great Noligwe.
The recent deaths put South Africa on track to exceed last year's grim toll, when 298 miners died, up from 285 in 2000.
WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS MINES
South Africa gold mines are the deepest and most dangerous in the world. A miner's deadliest enemy at depths of up to three km (10,000 feet) are earth tremors, which can collapse a tunnel or rock face.
AngloGold spokesman Steve Lenahan said the recent accidents and a rise in the gold price were unrelated.
"We mine at a rate determined by our mine plan, which is a longer term approach than what would be required by a change in the gold price," he told Reuters.
He added AngloGold had taken steps to improve safety in its mines with better equipment to monitor seismic events and improved underground support.
"While we are making substantial strides in the management of seismic activity we still have not got science to point where we can rely on technology to anticipate a seismic event," he said.
But Moferefere Lekorotsoana, spokesman for the powerful National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), saw a link with prices.
"To what extent are the deaths related to the current glow of gold and platinum? The negative consequence is that people are driven to work harder and their lives are put at stake," Lekorotsoana said.
Better safety measures and training throughout the industry has reduced the number of deaths in South African mines from between 700 and 800 a year before the post-apartheid government began cracking down on mine safety in 1994.
"But even one death is far too many," Lekorotsoana said. "We want a campaign of zero tolerance to death in mines."