Pan African has concluded a milestone five-year wage agreement for wage increases and other conditions of service with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at its Barberton Mines operations.
NUM is the representative union for Category 4 to 8 bargaining unit employees at its Barberton Mines operations.
The agreement for the period June 1 2024 to end-June 2029 amounts to an average annual increase of about 5.3% per annum over the five-year period, Pan African said in a statement on Tuesday.
“We are pleased to have entered into multiyear wage agreements at Barberton Mines, which will ensure stability in labour relations at this operation over the coming years,” said Pan African CEO Cobus Loots.
The current five-year wage agreement with UASA, the other representative union at Barberton Mines, entered into in 2021, is valid for another two years, until June 30 2026.
The agreement provides for an increase of 5.0% or CPI, whichever is higher, capped at 6%.
This agreement affords the parties a one-off option to renegotiate these increases, in the event of CPI being lower than 4% or higher than 7.5%.
“The maturation of Barberton’s ESOP has also realised tangible benefits to all its participants,” said Loots.
The employee share ownership plan (ESOP) was destined to mature on June 30 after a 10-year term, but an early settlement of the scheme — March 31 2024 — was negotiated with employees and unions.
Qualifying employees received dividends of more than R40m during the scheme’s tenor, with the final maturity benefits paid to employees in May.
More than 2,200 employees qualified to receive final maturity payments, with payments dependent on the number of completed years of service, the company said.
Last month the mid-tier gold producer said it expects to achieve the upper end of its production guidance despite ceasing some operations at its Evander gold mines in Mpumalanga.
The group said in a production update it had narrowed itsguidance for the year to end-June to 186,000oz-190,000oz (previously 180,000oz-190,000oz).
“In the second half of the financial year, [we] ceased processing of marginal surface sources at Evander due to this business, which contributed about 2,500oz in the first half of this financial year, becoming uneconomical,” the company said.
However, if production from these sources was maintained in the second half of the financial year, group production would likely have been more than 190,000oz.
The group, which has a dual listing on the JSE and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in the UK, has kept cost guidance for the year unchanged at $1,325oz-$1,350/oz.
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