More than 250,000 South African gold miners went on strike Thursday seeking higher wages and a cut of profits from soaring gold prices, AP quoted a union representative as saying. The National Union of Mineworkers said they expect the industrial action to halt operations at four companies including Anglogold Ashanti, Harmony Gold and Goldfields. The miners want a 14 percent raise, Union General Secretary Frans Baleni said, because they want to see their share of the profits from high gold prices. The union said the striking gold miners would join more than 150,000 other miners from the coal and diamond sectors, who began striking within the last week. The union describes miners' work as arduous and dangerous. Baleni said miners "can lose limbs and lungs, sacrificed to the dust." The strike will have a negligible effect on the price of gold, Twine added, as it is not a consumable resource, so the temporary loss in production would have little impact. Mining companies said they are prepared for the strike. Graham Briggs, chief executive officer of Harmony Gold, said "operations will be closed, assets will be secured and measures will be taken to ensure that expenditure is kept to a minimum." Harmony Gold said Thursday that it expects very limited gold production during the strike. Union members say the strike will go on until a settlement is reached. -- SPA
