Pan African Resources plc (LON:PAF) has confirmed a news release from South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Sunday which said the group is considering cutting jobs at its Evander Gold Mine in the country’s Mpumalanga province.
In a brief statement, the AIM-listed firm said: “Further to the recent NUM press release and media speculation, the Company confirms that it has commenced a consultation process in terms of section 189 of the South African Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995 at its Evander Gold Mining Proprietary Limited operation.”
It added: ”Further announcements will be made in due course.”
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The NUM statement said the company would cut 1,722 jobs, out of a total workforce of 1,812 people at the mine.
It added that the company had informed the union that the job cuts were due to deteriorating and inadequate infrastructure at the mine, high operating costs, such as rising electricity, labour costs, and low gold price.
Pan African Resources bought the Evander mine from South Africa’s Harmony Gold in 2012 for 1.5bn rand (£93.1mln ) in a bid to double its annual gold output.