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Feb 13 2012 12:15
Miner Xstrata says it has brought forward maintenance on two furnaces to assist Eskom to save power.
Feb 13 2012 10:43
Although jobs were created, the economy is still 420 000 jobs short of the peak employment level before the 2009 global financial crisis, says Adcorp.
Feb 13 2012 07:58
Greek lawmakers have approved a new round of drastic austerity measures after a long day of street battles between police and protesters left dozens injured.
Johannesburg - South Africa's third largest gold
producer Harmony Gold said on Friday its night workers are on standby awaiting further news on Eskom's power supply.
"The morning and afternoon production shifts have been cancelled while the night shift is on standby awaiting further news from Eskom regarding power supply," said Amelia Soares, Harmony's spokesperson.
Harmony, along with other gold and platinum producers, halted output at its South African mines after power utility Eskom said it could not guarantee Friday's power supply.
The government has termed the rolling power cuts that escalated this week a 'national emergency".
It's not clear how long the situation will continue but Eskom said in a statement released late on Thursday that the prolonged adverse weather conditions had continued to affect its production capability.
"The situation has worsened today (Thursday) as has been seen in the amount of load shedding implemented nationwide. The prognosis is that load shedding will continue for the next two to four weeks," it said.
CEO Jacob Maroga said that following talks with industrial customers, they have made an "additional significant" contribution toward reducing power demand.
"In the past, our industrial customers have voluntarily reduced load at Eskom's request. Following our discussions with them, they have made additional significant contribution to reducing demand," he said.
Safety concerns
Meanwhile, Impala Platinum said that due to safety concerns, management had taken the decision to withdraw the workforce and cancel the day shift at its Impala Rustenburg mine.
This follows a communiqué from Eskom on Friday morning advising that electric power could not be guaranteed at its operations, the mining group said in a statement.
However, it said that operations at its Marula mine would continue normally, unless load shedding was applied.
"In this event the workforce will be evacuated in line with normal procedures. The refineries in Springs will not be affected," Implats said, noting that the impact of the stoppage was in the order of 3 500 ounces of platinum per day.