Hedge funds slash bullish wagers on gold over Trump election win
Hedge funds and other large speculators boosted net-long positions by 11% to 197,362 as of Nov. 12, the lowest in 14 weeks.
South Africa’s Pilanesberg Platinum announced on Friday a labour dispute has been settled and mining operations will resume next week after a two-week shutdown after employees of a contractor disrupted operations through intimidation of supervisors and damage to property and equipment.
The share traded up almost 2% in afternoon trade but the company worth some $510m has lost more than a tenth of its value on the Toronto bourse since halting operations and is down close to 50% over the last twelve months.
Platmin said that agreement has been reached between its mining contractor, MCC Contracts, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eqstra Holdings Limited, and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on the full resumption of mining operations at the Pilanesberg Platinum Mine.
Saturday 9 July, MCC maintenance teams will begin to repair the damaged vehicles and normal working shifts will resume on Monday, 11 July.
Employees who engaged in illegal industrial action and damage to property on 23 June will remain suspended, pending disciplinary action. MCC will work closely with the NUM in this regard.
Assessment of the extent of the damage to the MCC-owned mining fleet continues. Eqstra will report on this to its shareholders. Drilling and blasting equipment, fundamental to mining operations, was unaffected and will start to operate immediately. MCC will advise Platmin in due course of the potential impact of the equipment damage to operations.
Platmin’s concentrator has operated at full capacity throughout the period by processing stockpiled, oxidised reef. There are still considerable stockpiles available but scheduled preventative maintenance of the concentrator will begin shortly, the company announced.
Click here for more on Platmin and the Pilanesberg mine.
Image is a view of the Pilanesberg National Park.
