By Bloomberg
Anglo American Platinum Ltd., the largest producer of the metal, will spin off South African mines it has been seeking to dispose of into a separately listed company, according to the UASA labour union.
The Johannesburg-based unit of Anglo American Plc, known as Amplats, told the union of its decision June 17, Franz Stehring, head of mining at the UASA, said by phone Tuesday. The organisation mainly represents higher-skilled workers at the mining company. A listing will take about nine months to complete, he said.
The company has been seeking to exit four aging, labour- intensive mines in SA amid a 39 percent plunge in platinum prices since 2011. Amplats has previously said it’s still deciding whether to sell the mines or list them separately. “We’ll be making an announcement this quarter on which exit route we will be taking,” Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole said by phone.
Amplats fell 0.3 percent to 292.42 rand, less than the 1.5 percent decline in the six-member FTSE/JSE Africa Platinum Mining Index.
