Ivanhoe Mines: Ivanplats initiates job cuts in Limpopo

Ivanhoe Mines’ South African unit, known as Ivanplats, had begun a process to cut 325 jobs as it awaited the government’s go ahead to start building a platinum mine, it said yesterday. On October 15 it had initiated the so-called section 189 process in which it consulted with worker representatives about job cuts, the company, headed by billionaire executive chairman Robert Friedland, said in an e-mailed response to questions. The 212 employees and 113 contractors in northern Limpopo had been on standby on full wages and benefits for four-and-a-half months while waiting for the Department of Mineral Resources to notarise its mining licence, the company said. A department spokeswoman declined to comment. – Bloomberg