Platinum firm makes offer to striking S African miners

Lonmin, the world's number three platinum producer, announced a new offer to striking miners at its South African operations following a fresh round of talks late Thursday, AFP reports. "Following negotiations today, Lonmin has presented an offer to the employee delegate. The offer will be communicated to employees at the hill where they have been waiting for feedback before negotiations continue again tomorrow (Friday)," the company said in a statement. The labour unrest has snowballed since a wildcat strike hit London-listed Lonmin's Marikana operation last month and police there gunned down 34 people on August 16. South Africa's President Jacob Zuma warned his government would soon act to rein in the growing unrest gripping the sector, which has also hit Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world's top platinum producer, whose operations remained shuttered for a second day after the company suspended operations over security concerns. Including its non-platinum operations, Anglo American employs 76,000 people in South Africa, making it the single largest private-sector employer. The strike action began at the Lonmin mines on August 10. All the striking workers are demanding 12,500 rand ($1,487, 1,152 euros) per month, an almost tripling of their salaries. The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) confirmed that Lonmin had made an offer in response to the workers' wage demands and that the employ ees' side "will respond at noon (Friday), when the negotiations is scheduled to reconvene." A total of 45 people have died since the Lonmin strike started.