Mine workers at a South African mine owned by Vancouver-based Eastern Platinum Ltd. (TSX:ELR) have driven mine vehicles through a security gate, unlawfully occupied two mines, and sabotaged underground electrical and pumping equipment to cause flooding, the company announced this morning.
“The illegal actions of a very small minority of our employees have not prevented the mine from operating and we are confident that we will soon be back at full production,” company president and CEO Ian Rozier said in a phone interview this morning.
“These types of demonstrations are not uncommon in South Africa around wage negotiations, especially this year when these are taking place at the same time as national elections, and many sectors of the economy are being subjected to this type of action.”
The actions occurred May 6 and 7 at the Crocodile River mine amid wage negotiations. Since then, the company states it began conducting repairs and resuming operations. The company noted that there has since been a blockade at the mine entrance to “intimidate and prevent” non-striking employees from going to work.
Eastern Platinum noted that, if the blockade continues, the company intends to “deal with” all workers who do not report for work at the beginning of the morning shift May 12 “in accordance with the legal procedure available to [Crocodile River Mine].”
At press time, company stock was down approximately13% to $0.90 and had the highest trading volume on the Toronto Stock Exchange.