Amcu to return to gold wage talks

Johannesburg - The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) will return to wage talks with gold producers after walking out of the process last week, its chief negotiator said on Tuesday.

"This deadlock does not imply that Amcu has abandoned the wage negotiations or that it intends to embark on a strike action in the gold sector," Jimmy Gama told a news briefing, adding that the union would "negotiate further".

It was not immediately clear if AMCU would pursue talks under the auspices of a government mediator - a legal requirement before it could call a strike - or if the union would talk directly to the producers on its own.

Three other unions remain committed to the collective negotiations with AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG], Sibanye Gold [JSE:SGL], Harmony Gold [JSE:HAR] and two smaller producers.

The industry had been hoping to get agreements at the same time with all four unions.