JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Multi-listed Harmony Gold on Monday warned that its gold output for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, would be about 15% lower than the 291 734 oz produced in the quarter ended December 2012.
The temporary closure of Harmony’s Kusasalethu mine due to safety and security reasons, ventilation challenges at the Phakisa mine and a slow start-up at the other operations post the festive season, resulted in the lower quarter-on-quarter gold production.
The gold miner halted mining at Kusasalethu on December 20 last year to review its financial and operational status after a series of illegal strikes, a refusal by some employees to adhere to work policies and procedures and several incidents of violence by some employees and contractors.
It announced in February that it would reopen the mine, in phases, after securing union and worker commitment to comply with policies and procedures and to ensure safe and orderly behaviour.
The miner noted on Monday that more than half the Kusasalethu employees have now returned to the mine, which was expected to resume normal production levels after June.
The company warned, however, that the restart of mining at Kusasalethu and the Phakisa mine’s performance could also impact on the company’s output for the quarter to end June 30, 2013.
Harmony would release its results for the March quarter on May 3.