A dispute involving workers for Zimbabwe Platinum Mining (Zimplats) will hit production, according to the firm.

The Australian-listed outfit was forced to suspend some mining operations at its Ngezi project in Zimbabwe, as the operation became potentially unstable.

In a statement reported by Dow Jones, the firm advised shareholders that "certain employees of Horlock Mining", the mining contractor at the Ngezi open pit mine, were involved in a 'go slow' action.

"Given the possibility of damage to equipment, management has decided to suspend some of the mining operations whilst the contractor attends to the issue," it added.

The firm said that the move would inevitably affect production, but refused to elaborate beyond acknowledging "ore production for the month of June will be negatively affected by this action".

The company did say, however, that it would seek to minimise the impact of the action by bringing forward planned maintenance work on the project's crusher and concentrator.

"Shareholders will be fully informed once the full effects of the action have been assessed," Zimplats concluded.

Zimplats, which is 82.6 per cent-owned by Impala Platinum, produced 458,000 tons of ore containing platinum, palladium, gold and rhodium at the Ngezi site in the first quarter.