Gold Fields, unions sign new shift schedule

GOLD Fields has reached an agreement with labour unions at its South Deep mine on a new working structure that will cost R170m to implement but will improve productivity.

Against the backdrop of a three-week work stoppage at its Kloof Driefontein Complex and its Beatrix mines in Welkom that has cost it a ton of gold, the agreement is remarkable, said an analyst.

Gold Fields has withdrawn the section 189 notices issued to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at South Deep advising of a possible retrenchment programme if the new operating model was not agreed to, company CEO Nick Holland said yesterday. “This agreement will define the future of South Deep and position it to become one of the most modern underground mechanised mines both locally and internationally,” he said.

“The agreement shows that there is indeed room for constructive collaboration in South African labour relations,” he added.

NUM general secretary Frans Baleni yesterday confirmed the agreement had been reached with Gold Fields.

The new model, which sees miners working a 12-hour shift with four days on duty and four days off, will create 400 new jobs at the mine.

Gold Fields said the benefits of the scheme were that it would add five more working hours per day, a 25% improvement.

It would also add seven more production days to the year, the company said, but employees would, on average, work 50 days less per year. South Deep will be a 700,000oz-a-year gold mine by the end of 2015.

Gold Fields will have to pay R170m to implement the new scheme. “This is an appropriate investment in generating a new operating model, which will underpin the significant potential of South Deep,” Mr Holland said.