http://www.zerohedge.com/news/workers-shot-another-south-african-gold-mine-miner-strike-spreads

Workers Shot At Another South African Gold Mine As Miner Strike Spreads

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/03/2012 09:54 -0400

Gross Domestic Product

Last night we reported that the troubles for South Africa's metal mining industry, which accounts for 20% of the nation's GDP, have spread, when in the aftermath of the Lonmin Marikana Platinum mine bloodbath which saw 44 miners shot by police another mine - this time Gold Fields' KDC mine - went dark as the bulk of the firm's miners went on strike. Moments ago AP reported that violence has erupted at a third mine, this time the gold mine owned by the nephew of Nelson Mandela, where 4 workers have been shot. So much for an amicable resolution, or for gold production returning to historical levels.

From AP:

Police and politicians say four miners have been shot and injured, apparently by security guards using rubber bullets at a gold mine owned by the South African president's nephew and a grandson of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.

Monday's shooting comes after firebrand politician Julius Malema visited the Aurora gold mine last week and told fired mineworkers that he was going to make South African mines ungovernable.

Police spokeswoman Pinky Tsinyane said four miners were shot and that police have arrested four people for public violence.

Two weeks ago, police killed 34 striking miners at a platinum mine. Scores of miners arrested at the scene of that mass shooting northwest of Johannesburg await release Monday.

Expect more South African mines to shutter, as gold production in the world's third largest gold producer grinds to a halt, and the local workers grasp they had the leverage all along. Should the South African example spread to other countries, then expect the price of gold to soar regardless of how much printing the central planners engage in the coming weeks and month.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Miners-shot-on-East-Rand-20120903

Johannesburg - Four people were shot and wounded by security guards at Gold One’s flagship Modder East mine near Springs early on Monday, police said.

Spokesperson Captain Pinky Tsinyane said police were called to the scene at 06:30, but arrived after the men had been taken to hospital.

One of the four was in a critical condition, while the other three had less serious injuries.

Tsinyane said some of the men had previously been fired from the mine, apparently over union recognition issues, but some had since been reinstated.

Police were investigating a case of attempted murder and four people were arrested for public violence.

Independent Online reported that a crowd gathered outside the gates of Modder East on Monday morning, demanding to be re-employed with higher salaries.Workers, who had been on strike since June 4, were reportedly fired via SMS on June 11 for going on strike.

Further details were not available.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/first-platinum-now-gold-south-african-miners-strike-spreads-thousands-ounces-remain-ground

First Platinum, Now Gold: As South African Miners Strike Spreads, Thousands Of Ounces Remain In The Ground

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/02/2012 16:44 -0400

Central Banks

Gross Domestic Product

Two weeks ago we showed dramatic footage as striking miners at Lonmin's Marikana South Africa platinum mine were fired upon by local the local cops, killing dozens of protesters in the process. Aside from the implications of what happens when the establishment loses control and desperate workers revolt with complete disregard for their own safety, the strike has crippled the world's third largest platinum maker, and has cut daily production of the precious metal by 2,500 ounces. Since then the Lonmin situation has remained critical, with just 6% of the South African company's workers turning up for work last week. In the meantime, the strike bug has gone airborne, and has now impacted Gold Fields, the world's fourth largest gold mine. From the FT: "Some 12,000 workers at a gold mine operated by Gold Fields have gone on strike, in the latest industrial strife to hit South Africa’s mining industry. Sven Lunsche, a spokesman for Gold Fields, said the wild-cat strike was not directly related to the crisis at the Marikana platinum complex, where 44 people have been killed in violence after rock drill operators downed their tools to demand higher wages on August 10. But he acknowledged that “the atmosphere in the mining industry is very volatile at the moment and this may have had an indirect impact on the situation". The bottom line: "The strike was costing the company 1,660 gold ounces of production a day, Mr Lunsche said." In other words in addition to the fear of a resumption in money printing by central bankers, the gold price will now have to deal with the added fear that supply disruptions just may hamper China's stealthy hording attempts to become the world's biggest holder of physical gold, or at least at sub $2000/oz prices.

Furthermore, it appears that where the striking miners of Lonmin and Gold Fields have boldly gone, many more local unionized workers are set to go as well, in the process shuttering the biggest industry in the Southern African nation:

The unrest at Marikana mines operated by Lonmin, the London-listed company, has been complicated by a dispute between the NUM and a rival union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, a newer body that has been making inroads into the platinum sector.

Amcu has no representation at the Gold Fields mine, although it has previously attempted to recruit members there. Industry officials have said the fact that gold producers use collective bargaining to negotiate with unions should reduce the risk of the kind of dispute afflicting Lonmin spreading to that sector.

But the Marikana crisis has triggered nervousness throughout the industry, while also putting focus on what appears to be growing dissatisfaction among workers with the NUM, which has been the dominant union in mining for three decades.

Lesiba Seshoka, a spokesman for the NUM, said the union had sent a team to the KDC mine to see what the workers’ concerns were. But he said suggestions that it was related to an internal union dispute at the mine were “not true”.

As a reminder, South Africa is the world's third largest producer of gold in the world (although the output has been steadily declining year after year), and the broader mining accounts for just under 20% of the country's GDP.

Should the local workers grasp that they have the bulk of the leverage in this critical industry, it is unknown how far the metal production shutdown will extend, and how far the price of gold will rise as fears of a persistent supply contraction, coupled with once again increasing demand by both retail and central banks, spread.

and from News 24 , more on the miners strike....