South Africa's Chamber of Mines has registered its concerns over the potential for power outages to seriously harm mining operations over the coming year.

Rolling power outages occurred across South Africa last week after generation capacity was cut due to technical problems, affecting operations at several mines.

Impala Platinum lost half a day of production due to the outages on Thursday, a loss accounting for around 30,000 tonnes of platinum. Impala's Relations Executive, Bruce Gilmour, told Mining Weekly that the company would soon make up for this loss, although he also expressed concern about future power outages.

It is believed that the problem could become a common occurrence in the near future, as Chamber of Mines Assistant Adviser for Techno-economics, Dick Kruger, commented that the sector could be in for a "bumpy ride".

Mining Weekly reports that the Chamber of Mines has met with Eskom, the state power supplier, over the future of the mining industry, with the outcome being a warning for the industry to expect more outages over the months ahead.

However, Mr Gilmour insisted that he believes Eskom has the ability to meet South Africa's long-term energy needs, but added: "The key question is how long this will carry on."

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