Impala Platinum claimed today (3rd September) that some of the workers who were on strike at two of its mines in South Africa have returned to their jobs.

The company has seen production impacted by the industrial action, which commenced last week at its section of the Rustenburg mine and also the smaller Marula facility.

Negotiations have so far proved unsuccessful, with Impala offering a ten per cent pay rise but the workers holding out for 14 per cent plus housing and transport allowances.

However, Bob Gilmour, spokesman for the world's second-largest platinum producer, suggested that the majority of employees have now resumed their duties at Marula.

In addition, he revealed that all the staff at Impala's Rustenburg processing plant have returned to work, but conceded that only a proportion are back at the mine itself.

"Some of the workers at the Rustenburg mining operations have clocked in but not enough to make it a proper shift to get production," he told Reuters.

The company announced that it would meet with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Wednesday evening in order to find a solution to the wage dispute.

However, Lesiba Seshoka, a spokesman for the union, has rejected Mr Gilmour's claims, explaining that the strikes are heading towards a third week with talks still at an impasse.

"You can go to any of the operations and will see that there are no workers ... this is a way for Implats to try to calm the investors and tell them that they have the situation under control," he said in an interview with Reuters.

Mr Seshoka also revealed that the next round of discussions between the two parties will take place later on Thursday, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The strike action, which involves about 20,000 workers at Impala's Rustenburg mine and 4,000 at Marula, has now cost the company roughly 31,000 oz in platinum production.

Furthermore, Business Report claims that the lost production is worth approximately R302 million to Impala and is equivalent to 1.2 per cent of its group revenue of R26.1 billion in the year to June.

Meanwhile, the NUM has denied any involvement in the angry scenes that followed the dismissal of 3,900 Aquarius Platinum workers last week for unprotected strikes.

An office belonging to Murray and Roberts, the company sub-contracting the employees, was burnt and some of its managers' cars were also torched after the announcement.

Sources:

Impala Platinum Says Some Miners Returned to Work (Update1) (02/09/09)

Wage negotiation update (02/09/09)

Implats says some workers back at work, no deal yet (03/09/09)

Web Exclusive: Implats' strike losses reach R302 million (02/09/09)

Rage at Aquarius wasn't us, says NUM (03/09/09)

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