Lonmin is the third largest primary producer of Platinum in the world, producing over 900,000 ounces of Platinum and a similar number of ounces of the other Platinum group metals such as Palladium and Rhodium. Its operations are located in the district of Marikana, near Rustenberg, in the North West Province of South Africa.

            Red = 25 day moving average.           Green = 200 day moving average.

SALES PER ACTIVITY (Data as of 30/09/2005)

Platinum extraction: 100%

The chart clearly shows the company is in trouble even before this massacre of its workers. SELL.

Quarter of Lonmin mine strikers return to work following massacre


A quarter of the workforce have returned to the Marikana platinum mine in South Africa where 44 men were killed last week.

Mine-owner Lonmin threatened about 3,000 striking workers with dismissal if they did not show up at Marikana, 100km northwest of Johannesburg.

The mayhem was sparked by a spreading battle for membership between the NUM and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which has accused its rival of caring more about politics and personal enrichment than workers.

Investigators appointed by President Jacob Zuma, who has declared a week of mourning, are expected at the mine.

Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum producer, said in a statement that, with unions, it would address a news conference this afternoon "in a bid to attract people back to work.

It said 27.3% at the Marikana mine, which employs 28,000 people, had returned to work.

Does the management of Lonmin think they can treat people like slaves?

Think again.

Lonmin will collapse if they do not appease the miners.

£6 has been support before.

In answer to hlyeo's post #30, it's not a simple as it seems and it looks like there are a number of vested interests distorting the picture to make it look like a simple management/worker dispute.
Reuters "Some workers belong to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), whose bloody turf war for members with the dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was the backdrop to Thursday's killing of 34 striking platinum miners by police at the Marikana mine.

When Aquarius, the world's 4th largest producer of the precious metal, closed production at Everest, it cited worsening industrial relations stemming from the AMCU/NUM battle which has turned workers into warriors across the platinum sector.

The country's ruling African National Congress is in a governing alliance with the NUM-affiliated national union confederation COSATU, and a perception has filtered down the shafts that the rank and file are not getting a fair deal because NUM is in bed with companies and the ANC.

This has been a common refrain among several AMCU workers Reuters has interviewed in recent weeks, from Lydenburg to the main platinum belt where police on Thursday opened fire on striking workers employed by Lonmin at its Marikana operations northwest of Johannesburg.

"The NUM, they have shares in the companies," said Fannie Bhengu, an AMCU branch chairman in Lydenburg.

Past NUM leaders who are ANC heavyweights include Cyril Ramaphosa, a business tycoon who sits on Lonmin's board. In his labour days, he led a strike 25 years ago that saw 11 mineworkers gunned down by police.

The NUM denied it had shares in mining companies, or that it had too cosy a relationship with the management of those companies.

AMCU and other upstart unions have however been drilling into a growing seam of discontent and poaching NUM members or picking up the unorganised at Lonmin, Aquarius and at the world's largest platinum mine run by Impala Platinum, which shut for 6 weeks early this year amid labour blood-letting.

The groundswell of revolt against the NUM is tapping into the same popular anger with poor government delivery of services that is confronting the ANC, marked by frequent riots in poor townships and squatter camps."

Poor and angry workers living in squatter conditions certainly have nothing to lose. That is the cause of the revolt as big companies have ignore the welfare of the society. They don't care because more riots and strikes would spell disaster for Lonmin.

Lonmin says sacking striking miners could lead to more violence

(Reuters) - Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum producer, on Tuesday conceded that sacking 3,000 striking workers at its Marikana mine near Johannesburg, South Africa, could lead to more violence.

Profit will be severely affected this year at Lonmin....


Fewer than 7 percent of Lonmin's 28,000-strong South African workforce reported for duty on Thursday as the platinum producer held talks with warring unions, attempting to cool tensions and bring people back to work.

The world's third-largest platinum producer has been forced to shut its mining operations for almost three weeks because of a violent turf war between the established National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and militant Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which led to the deaths of 44 people this month.

That total includes 34 striking workers killed in a hail of police bullets, an event that has stiffened the resolve of surviving comrades to hold out until their demands are met.

"We have a 6.6 percent average attendance across all shafts this morning," Lonmin said in a statement.

Lonmin said only eight percent of its 28,000 workers reported for duty on Tuesday.

"We have an eight percent average attendance across all shafts this morning.The workers have vowed not to return to their jobs unless their R12,500 salary demand is met. "We will betray our comrades who died fighting for this R12,500 if we accept anything less than it," said one worker, Abram Pitso.

540p now... keep on shorting.

Lonmin, unions sign South Africa mine peace deal

JOHANNESBURG | Thu Sep 6, 2012 8:30am BST

(Reuters) - Lonmin and unions representing mineworkers at the strike-hit Marikana platinum mine in South Africa have signed an accord for a return to work, but a militant breakaway union was not part of the deal, union officials said on Thursday.

The fact that the militant Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) had not signed last night's accord left questions about how many striking miners at Marikana would in fact heed the agreement and go back to work.

On Wednesday, more than 3,000 striking miners marched through streets near the mine, the largest protest at the hot spot since police shot dead 34 of their colleagues last month.

Covenants are most likely to be breached on 30/9/2012/

This is a sell at 580p.

There will be a slide next week.

535p now.

486p now

Lonmin had created a beast that it later found impossible to tame - its own miners for whom the company has neglected through the years.
Killing them is not an option obviously.

Q4 2012 Production Report & Future Strategy Update

Highlights:

· Employees returned to work, ramp up to full production going better than expected. First Platinum ounces to be produced on 31 October

· Platinum metal in concentrate for the fourth quarter down 45.7% (vs Q4 2011) due to illegal strike action in August and September
o Strike impact of around 110,000 ounces of mined Platinum
o Refined Platinum production only down 20.8% as ounces extracted from stock pipeline

· Full year 2012 sales of over 700,000 ounces of Platinum. Immediately available ore reserves of 18 months, improved grades and recoveries and further improvement in safety statistics underlines quality of operational performance

· 30 September 2012 covenants to be formally tested in early November and on balance of probabilities covenants are not expected to be breached at that test date

· Debt levels will rise significantly over the coming months to fund the production ramp up and stock pipeline rebuild - may breach covenants at 31 March 2013 absent additional equity and amendments to existing bank facilities

· A proposed Rights Issue of approximately US$800 million (gross) planned to reduce indebtedness and increase financial strength

· Proposed Rights Issue underpinned by a signed Standby Underwriting Agreement. More details of proposed Rights Issue to follow in due course

· Amended US Dollar and Rand bank facilities already signed removing EBITDA covenants and reducing quantum of US Dollar facilities

o Resolves covenant issues

Strike-hit South African miner Lonmin [JSE:LON] said it planned to raise $800m in a rights issue and had signed amendments to its debt facilities to help it avoid a possible covenant breach next year.

Lonmin, the world’s third-largest platinum miner, which has one of the most pressured balance sheets in the sector, had warned that it may need to issue new shares to help shore up its finances after a deadly strike hit output.

The company said that the proposed rights issue was underpinned by a standby underwriting agreement and that it had also amended a deal with its lenders to remove earnings-related covenants.

Analysts had raised concerns that the company could breach such covenants at the latest test but Lonmin said on Tuesday that it did not expect to do so, although it warned had it not taken action there was a danger over the March test.

“With the standby underwriting and amended debt facilities signed we have taken two decisive steps on our way to delivering that and we are confident about our financial security,” chaiperson Roger Phillimore said in a statement.

Lonmin’s Johannesburg-listed shares were down 1.8% at 07:39 GMT, paring earlier gains of as much as 4%.

The company said that production slumped 45.7% in the three months to September 30. It had already warned that it would miss its 2012 output target after a strike left 44 dead in August.

South African mines have been hit by months of labour unrest which have threatened growth in Africa’s biggest economy and drawn criticism of President Jacob Zuma for his handling of the most damaging strikes since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Lonmin’s miners have since returned to work and the company said that the ramp up in production was going better than expected.

Lonmin shares fell more than 5% in early trade following news of the rights issue.

up 36p over all, bought a few.,.