Johannesburg - Sibanye Gold, the biggest miner of South African gold, fell to the lowest in more than three months as it suspended operations at its Cooke mine, west of Johannesburg, after employees were assaulted.
Sibanye dropped as much as 7.8 percent, and was 3.1 percent weaker at 10.42am in Johannesburg, heading for the lowest close since June 23. Three workers were assaulted and two are in a critical condition after violence broke out during a union-membership verification process, Sibanye spokesman James Wellsted said on Tuesday by phone.
The company shut Cooke, which produces 10 percent to 15 percent of its gold, late Wednesday to investigate the incident and ensure workers’ safety, Wellsted said. “There appears to be a misunderstanding in that some employees thought we had finished the verification process when it was in fact ongoing,” he said. “While emotions are high, no one is going down on the day shift.”
The National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union are competing for support across South Africa’s gold industry. The AMCU rose to prominence in the country’s platinum mines, displacing the NUM, following the Marikana massacre, when 34 people protesting over wages were killed in a single day by police in 2012.
Spokesmen for the NUM and AMCU couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Gold dropped 0.2 percent to $1 308.77 an ounce as investors anticipated higher US interest rates. The FTSE/JSE Africa Gold Mining Index dropped as much as 2.5 percent in Johannesburg, the lowest since June 2 on a closing basis. About 940 000 Sibanye shares were traded, almost 20 percent of the three-month daily average.
BLOOMBERG