Rio Tinto shuts SA mine, expansion over violence
JOHANNESBURG – Rio Tinto Group halted mining operations at its Richards Bay Minerals unit in South Africa amid escalating violence in surrounding communities that led to an employee being shot and injured.
Smelters at the site in the KwaZulu-Natal province are operating at a reduced level and a $463 million expansion project has been temporarily paused, London-based Rio said Wednesday in a statement. There’s been an escalation of criminal activity directed at the operation’s staff, Rio said.
Output for 2019 is now expected to be at the low end of a guidance range of 1.2 million to 1.4 million tons and Rio is contacting customers to minimize disruptions. It isn’t clear when operations will resume and the company is appealing to the government to step in and end the violence, Werner Duvenhage, the managing director for RBM, said by phone.
Source: iol.co.za
