• Sibanye-Stillwater said 575 employees have been retrenched at Kloof, while another 550 accepted separation packages.
• The services of 581 contract miners have been terminated while it did manage to save 1 057 jobs by transferring employees to other mines.
• The Marikana platinum assets are also going through a similar consultation process that may affect more than 4 000 jobs.
• For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.

Diversified commodities miner Sibanye-Stillwater has retrenched 575 employees from its Kloof 4 shaft following a Section 189 consultation process that commenced in September.

In a process that affected almost 2 400 employees, 550 accepted voluntary separation or early retirement packages. The group has also cut another 348 employees from across other gold operations, but a total of 1 057 employees accepted transfers to fill vacant positions at its other gold operations in South Africa. The cuts also affected 581 contractors, with some employees and contractors to be temporarily retained during decommissioning.

The move follows sustained losses at the operation near Carletonville, one of the world’s deepest mines. The company said previously the process followed “unsuccessful attempts to address productivity issues and other operational constraints at the Kloof 4 shaft, including seismicity and cooling constraints.”

READ | 3 000 jobs on the line as Sibanye-Stillwater starts retrenchment talks at Kloof 

Sibanye-Stillwater acquired Kloof in February 2013 when Gold Fields unbundled most of its SA gold mines to the new company, along with five other marginal mines in Gauteng and the Free State provinces.

“While the decision to close or restructure operations is never taken lightly, the closure of Kloof 4 shaft was necessary to curb ongoing financial losses,” CEO Neal Froneman said in a statement. He added the consultation process “encouragingly achieved this required outcome while also reducing the number of retrenchments.”

An incident that caused significant damage to the infrastructure during July contributed to the closure of the operation, with the move coming despite high gold prices, with the precious metal currently fetching almost $2 100 an ounce, having risen 17% in the past year.

Sibanye-Stillwater also been cutting costs in in its platinum operations as it struggles a downturn in prices. The group has also increased borrowings to fund operations and acquisitions to diversify away from the PGMs.

A consultation process that affects 4 095 employees at its Marikana platinum mines has been ongoing since October, while Sibanye-Stillwater has initiated a similar process at its Stillwater Mine, East Boulder Mine, the Columbus Metallurgical Complex and Columbus offices and other locations in the US.

These may result in more than 300 job losses, which Sibanye-Stillwater said is required to operate sustainably in a low-price environment. The price of platinum has fallen more than 14% so far in 2023, while palladium has lost almost 45%.

Sibanye, valued at about R60 billion on the JSE, had about 64 000 employees in its SA operations as of 2022, with about 24 500 gold employees and 36 800 PGM employees.

The group’s shares were up more than 1% in early afternoon trade on Monday but have more than halved in the past year.