Sibanye Gold CEO Says He Won’t Tolerate Illegal Mining Strikes

Sibanye Gold Ltd., the South African mining company spun off from Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI), said it won’t tolerate illegal walkouts as it prepares to review operations at its main assets in order to reassure investors.

“They are quite clearly concerned about South Africa,” Chief Executive Officer Neal Froneman said in a telephone interview, referring to investors. The former CEO of Gold One International Ltd. (GDO) returned to South Africa after meeting with Gold Fields shareholders in London and the U.S. in preparation for Sibanye’s Feb. 11 listing in Johannesburg and New York.

Strikes over pay that started at South African platinum mines and spread to gold, iron-ore and coal producers cut mining output by 10.1 billion rand ($1.1 billion) in 2012, costing tax revenue, exports and jobs, according to the National Treasury. Industrial unrest and above-inflation pay gains were partly behind the decision by Gold Fields to spin off its local assets.

“Anything that is improper, illegal union activity we will not tolerate,” Froneman said in a Feb. 1 phone interview from Cape Town, where mining executives, analysts and bankers are gathering for the annual Mining Indaba conference.
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