Strike hits South Africa’s Village Main Reef mine

South African gold producer Village Main Reef said on Friday that a wildcat strike had halted all production at its Murchison mine in the north of the country.

It is just the latest in a series of work stoppages to hit South Africa’s mining sector as annual wage negotiations get underway.

“We have not received formal notification about the reason for this unprotected strike,” the mine’s managing director Dalu Ncube told AFP. “But all production has been stopped.”

The facility, in Limpopo province, produces gold and antimony — a metalloid that is used in alloys.

Village Main Reef, said it would consider a court interdict to stop the strike.

A raft of pay rises in the wake of last year’s Marikana tragedy — which saw 34 striking miners shot dead by police on one day — has emboldened miners’ demands for wage increases of up to 100 percent.