Worker strikes at Impala Platinum's Rustenburg and Marula mines have cost the company about 50,000 oz in production, it emerged today (8th September).

The world's second-largest platinum producer has confirmed that the two-week industrial action is over, with employees returning to work on Monday evening.

Despite the workers holding out for a 14 per cent wage rise plus housing and travel allowances, Impala stood firm on its ten per cent offer and it has now been accepted.

However, the dispute has had a major effect on operations at the two facilities, with 48,000 oz being lost at Rustenberg alone, according to a new report by Reuters.

"Workers agreed to the wage offer and have voted with their feet by going back to work," Johan Theron, Impala's Group Executive for Human Resources, told the news provider.

"We lost 50,000 platinum oz during the strike at Rustenburg and Marula."

Impala was aggrieved at its workers' demands, particularly because they were seeking a rise of more than double the current 6.7 per cent inflation rate in South Africa.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) had hinted that the strike could be close to resolution on Monday after realising that the company would not budge from its offer.

"We can't have an indefinite strike," Eddie Majadibodu, the Chief Negotiator for the NUM at Impala, had told Reuters.

"Management is not intending to increase its offer. It's a matter of being reasonable."

Impala produces about a quarter of the world's platinum, but the strike has not yet had a major effect on the price of the precious metal.

Sources:

S.Africa's Implats says lost 50,000 oz during strike (08/09/09)

Impala Platinum Miners Return to Work at Rustenburg, Union Says (08/09/09)

South African union seeks to end Implats strike (07/09/09)

Pay Strike Ends at World's Biggest Platinum Mine (Update1) (07/09/09)

S.African union wants Implats workers to call off strike (04/09/09)



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