Mine shutdowns plague metals even as some slowly return to work

Bad news from South Africa’s platinum belt has pushed shares of Impala to the lowest since 1999.

The deaths brings the number of people killed at the company's operations this year to at least 10.

Two more quakes were felt Friday near the company's Masakhane gold mine, which cause search and rescue operations to be momentarily halted.

Contact has been made with three of the workers trapped at the company's Masakhane gold mine.

Most claimants are black miners from South Africa and neighbouring countries such as Lesotho, whom critics say were not provided with adequate protection during and even after the Apartheid ended in 1994.

The two companies will exchange past exploration information on areas prospective for diamonds in Zimbabwe and form a jointly-owned special purpose vehicle to develop and exploit diamond resources.

The Bystrinsky project is now expected to produce 25,000-31,000 tonnes of copper and 90,000-110,000 ounces of gold in concentrate in 2018.

The announcement is the last of a string of difficulties Anglo has faced with the iron ore mine, which was expected to produce 16 million tonnes this year, but that will now generate just 3 million tonnes.

The company is negotiating the possibility of buying the government’s 16 per cent stake in the Blanket project.