24th Jun 2015 07:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - Kenmare Resources PLC on Wednesday said unofficial industrial action has started at the Moma Titanium Minerals Mine in Mozambique, resulting in production being temporarily suspended at the site.
Kenmare is in the process of cutting jobs and changing shift patterns at Moma, following an agreement it reached in talks with the country's Labour ministry and unions in the first quarter.
The company said it, employee representatives and officials from the Labour ministry in Mozambique are now working towards resolving the action and said it will provide a further update at the situation develops.
It marks another issues at the Moma mine for Kenmare this year, following on from the decision it took in April to temporarily repatriate South African workers at the mine amid unrest in South Africa about foreign workers.
Kenmare said at the time it had made the decision to repatriate the workers, who represent 62 of the 1,391-strong workforce at the mine, amid unrest in South Africa regarding foreign workers which has created a reciprocal unrest concerning South Africans working in Mozambique.
At least six people were killed in xenophobic attacks in Durban, a large city on South Africa's east coast, in the weeks leading up to the decision, with violence then spreading to further areas. Many South Africans accused migrants, primarily from other African states and Asia, of taking jobs in the country amid an unemployment rate of 24%. Migrants have moved to the country in large numbers since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.
Kenmare shares were down 1.3% to 3.75 pence on Wednesday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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