(Reuters) – South Africa’s Sibanye Stillwater will close its 4 Belt shaft at Marikana and shed 855 jobs after failing to return it to profitability due to low platinum group metal (PGM) prices, the company said on Thursday.
The diversified miner, like its industry peers Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum, is restructuring to contain costs after PGM prices plunged last year.
In February, Sibanye said it cut about 2,000 jobs after restructuring its PGM operations, including closing mature and money-losing shafts.
Sibanye had held off shutting down the 4 Belt shaft during the previous restructuring round announced in October, on condition that it could be operated profitably.
The shaft, which employed 1,496 workers and 54 contractors, was initially targeted for closure in 2019, but had continued operating, supported by a metal price rally since then.
In a statement, Sibanye said 643 workers had been granted voluntary separation or early retirement, 93 employees on fixed-term contracts would not be renewed while 65 workers and 54 contractors were laid off outright.
Some 469 employees were transferred to Sibanye’s other PGM operations, while another 226 were taken off the payroll due to natural attrition.
“We cannot however continue to absorb ongoing losses, which in turn affects the viability of the rest of the SA PGM operations to the detriment of all stakeholders,” Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman said in the statement.
On April 11, Sibanye also announced plans to restructure its South African gold operations, which could result in the loss of 4,022 jobs at its Beatrix 1 shaft, which has not delivered planned production.
Sibanye also plans to cut jobs at its Kloof 2 plant, which has had insufficient processing material after the closure of Kloof 4 shaft in 2023.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Richard Chang)
