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Summary The South African miners refused to end their strike that has crippled production.
Striking Gold Fields workers in South Africa on Tuesday rejected a deal to end a 17-day wildcat action that has crippled production, as strikes continued at competitor AngloGold.The workers spurned a pact reached on Friday between the leading gold miner and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which should have seen miners to return underground on Tuesday morning.Nobody came to work, said Gold Fields vice president Willie Jacobsz.Gold Fields is the worlds number four producer of the precious metal.The firms KDC West mine, which employs 15,000 people near Johannesburg, has been crippled since September 9, slowing production by 1,400 ounces of gold a day, worth around $2.5 million at current market prices.National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) coordinator for Gold Fields Kenneth Buda confirmed the stayaway.Staff rejected the agreement over demands for a base salary of 12,500 rands ($1,520, 1,177 euros) -- which has become a rallying call on strike-hit mines -- and the equalisation of salaries and benefits, he said.The unrest has spiralled out of a deadly six week stand-off at Lonmins platinum mine near Rustenburg, which killed 46 people, to platinum and gold producers.The worlds number three gold firm AngloGold Ashanti on Tuesday said its workers were still on strike at its Kopanang mine around 180 kilometres (around 110 miles) southwest of Johannesburg.The mine employs around 5,000 workers and produced four percent of AngloGolds total output for the first half of the year.
