2000 Impala miners return to the surface

Impala Platinum Holdings said that more than 2 000 underground protesters at one of its mines in South Africa had returned safely to the surface.

The protest at the Bafokeng Rasimone mine in the North West province is now over, Johan Theron, a spokesperson for the Johannesburg-based company known as Implats, said Wednesday.

“By 2:50 p.m. today all North Shaft employees had returned to surface and by 5:05 p.m. all South Shaft employees had returned to surface,” the company said in a statement. About 2 205 employees started an underground protest on Monday.

Read: 2 200 Impala miners in illegal underground strike

The company said the motivation relates to “several misinterpretations and misunderstandings brought to the fore by the recent change in ownership at Impala Bafokeng,” including the view that accumulated pension-fund balances can be paid out to employees and concerns about a profit-share arrangement.

Illegal underground protests and copycat unlawful actions at mining operations in South Africa have become more prevalent in recent months, causing disruptions in the broader mining industry, Implats said.

The action at Bafokeng Rasimone is the fourth such protest since October.

Last week, about 500 employees were underground at Gold One International Ltd.’s Modder East operations southeast of Johannesburg, some of whom were held hostage and tortured, according to City Press.

Read: Implats to restart platinum mine after fatal accident

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