Johannesburg - Anglo American Platinum Ltd, the world’s biggest producer of the metal, plans to cut as many as 420 managerial and supervisory positions at its Rustenburg Platinum Mines unit as it restructures the operations.
“The proposed redesign takes into account the financial difficulties in the” platinum group metals industry, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Anglo American PLC unit has issued notices to start 60 days of talks about the cuts and said these consultations will end on August 22.
The proposed restructure will consolidate the Tumela and Dishaba mines as well as the Amandelbult concentrator, while the Mogalakwena mine and concentrator will also be combined and redesigned, it said.
Regional functional centres at Rustenburg, Amandelbult and Polokwane will be closed, with their functions incorporated into the adjacent operations and corporate office.
Anglo American Platinum and other producers in South Africa, which has the largest known reserves of the metal, are battling prices that have tumbled 26 percent in the past 12 months while salaries and operating costs have climbed.
The proposed restructure excludes the Rustenburg and Union mine operations that the company plans to dispose, it said.
Bloomberg