TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Zimbabwe-focused gold miner New Dawn Mining on Tuesday said an illegal and unprotected work stoppage at its Dalny mine, in Zimbabwe, has ended following a ‘disposal order’ being issued in the Labour Court of Zimbabwe on Friday.

The order declared, among other things, that the collective job action was unlawful, and that it be terminated forthwith and that employees should report for work immediately.

As a result of the disposal order, the employees returned to work, allowing the company to resume limited gold mining operations at Dalny mine.

New Dawn said that after limited mining operations were restarted, the mine was subject to disruptive actions by people who were not employees.

These actions have impacted the continued resumption of operations at the mine and the company's efforts to restore mine operations to economically viable levels. Although mining operations had recently resumed at Dalny mine, gold production had not reached the levels achieved prior to the work stoppage.

“Management is continuing to work on a mine recovery plan that it expects will incorporate changes to the Dalny mine operating plan. The loss of gold production during the work stoppage, combined with the power issues at Dalny mine, have further exacerbated the stresses on the company's operations and working capital,” the company said.

As a result, New Dawn is reviewing and revising its business strategies to recognise changing operating and financial parameters.

The junior miner last week reported consolidated gold production from its five mines in the country for the quarter ended December 31, 2012, of 9 069 oz, of which 8 440 oz were attributable to New Dawn, after adjusting for the minority interests' share of gold production. Production was down when compared with consolidated gold production for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 of 9 095 oz, of which 8 399 oz were attributable to the company.

The company’s TSX-listed stock closed at 86 Canadian cents apiece on Tuesday.