Anglo American to cut 2,000 jobs in South Africa

South Africa’s Anglo American Platinum will cut up to 2,000 jobs at its Union and Twickenham mines, the company said on Friday.

“The Company expects approximately 2,000 jobs in total to be impacted by the proposed restructuring at Twickenham and Union Mine,” the company said in a statement.

The mining company has started talks with unions over massive retrenchment in South Africa after prices almost halved in five years.

The company is the world’s largest platinum producer and is trying to cut its redundancy at its two major sites as Amplats aims to keep Union profitable, it said in an emailed statement.

“We are proposing to undertake further restructuring at Union Mine to ensure that the operation is both cash positive and sustainable. We have also resolved to place Twickenham Platinum Mine on maintenance,” said Mpumi Sithole, spokesperson of the company.

The Johannesburg-based company is embarking on at least a third round of job cuts in as many years to cope up with the reduced commodity prices that is weighing on the producer’s margin. Amplats reduced its labour count to 43,349 in 2015 from 56,000 in 2012.