De Beers 'confident' talks will avert strike at S.Africa's Venetia mine
Reuters
Published Sep 08, 2023 03:41AM ET
(Reuters) - Anglo American (LON:AAL) Plc's De Beers is confident ongoing talks with South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will avert a wage strike at Venetia, the country's largest diamond mine, the company said on Friday.
On Tuesday, NUM, South Africa's biggest mineworkers' union, said it was planning a strike at Venetia, as De Beers could only offer a 6% pay increase against demands for a 9% hike.
The strike by NUM's 1,500 workers would impact operations at Venetia's new $2.3 billion underground operations, which started production in July. De Beers stopped its 30-year open pit operations at Venetia in December 2022.
In a statement, De Beers said it held a meeting with NUM representatives on Sept.6, facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), a statutory body that mediates labour disputes.
"We are confident that through continued engagement with the union and our employees we will reach a sustainable settlement with the NUM," De Beers said.
The miner said the diamond industry is facing "challenging market conditions" impacting its business.
NUM was not immediately available for comment.
De Beers said it was pursuing a five-year wage deal with workers to provide operational certainty amid the transition to underground mining which targets annual production of 4 million carats, the equivalent of 12% of the group's forecast output for 2023.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.