Lonmin announced today (24th February) that it is set to retrench around 5,500 workers from its operations at Marikana and Limpopo.

The South African firm revealed that around 4,000 full-time employees, including 300 management personnel, will be released from Marikana, with 1,500 jobs being cut at Limpopo.

The agreement - which follows lengthy consultation with stakeholders and unions - will also see the world's third-largest producer of platinum place the Baobab shaft at Limpopo on care and maintenance.

Commenting on the news, Chief Executive Ian Farmer said: "With the current backdrop of challenging economic conditions, these agreements are an important milestone in our objective of restructuring the company."

Mr Farmer added that talks with the unions were "constructive and pragmatic" and that they managed to protect their members while also showing "an appreciation of our efforts to ensure the long-term sustainability of the company".

Lonmin also revealed that it still hopes to achieve platinum sales of around 700,000 oz from a full year's production at Marikana and 25,000 oz from Limpopo, thus maintaining its forecast for the 2009 financial year.

It is expected that the final retrenchment figures will be confirmed in the company's interim results on 11th May, once the down-sizing and restructuring programmes at the two venues have been completed.

Source:

Lonmin reaches agreement with unions regarding restructuring at Marikana and Limpopo (24/02/09)
http://www.lonmin.com/assets/pdf/lonmin%20reaches%20agreement%20with%20unions%20240209.pdf