Zimplats reducing its workforce by 1%
Zimplats is reducing its 8000-strong workforce by 1% as the Platinum miner moves to implement survival tactics as falling PGM prices bite.
Speaking at the 7th edition of the PGMs Industry Day Conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday, ZIMPLATS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alex Mhembere said:
“Through these current headwinds, we are only going to reduce our people by 1% of the total labour complement of 8,000 people that we have,” Mhembere announced.
He said ZIMPLATS wants to maintain its yearly output of around 600,000 PGM ounces per year and was targeting improving productivity as a way of containing costs.
He said that Zimplats would reduce spending on its 10-year $1.8 billion expansion project announced in 2021 and adopt a more cost-effective approach in the upcoming financial year, beginning in July.
“We’re going to spend less. We will only be focusing on our replacement capital expenditure, stay-in-business capex and very little on growth capex,” Mhembere said.
Meanwhile, some workers at the Platinum miner have reported to Mining Zimbabwe that salaries were being cut by 10%. The platinum miner is yet to respond to these claims.