Court Interdict Granted Against Illegal Industrial Action at Gold One's Ezulwini Operation
Gold One International Limited (ASX and JSE: GDO) advises that on Tuesday 2 October the company obtained an interim interdict from the Labour Court of South Africa, in terms whereof the industrial action that began at the Cooke 4 Shaft (Ezulwini) on 1 October 2012 was declared to be unprotected and unlawful. The employees were further interdicted from participating in the industrial action, which is in contravention of a two year wage agreement signed in July 2012.
The policy of ‘no work - no pay' has been enforced. Employees who continue to ignore various instructions and requests from the company to return to work will face disciplinary action that may lead to their dismissal.
The company reported on 2 October 2012 that a large number of Cooke 4 night shift employees failed to report for duty on 1 October 2012, and that both day and afternoon shift employees failed to report for work on 2 October 2012. An ultimatum to return to work was presented to employees on both 1 and 2 October, and has been circulated within the operation's hostels. The market is referred to the Gold One media release published on 2 October 2012, titled "Illegal Industrial Action at the Recently Acquired Ezulwini Operation".
About Gold One
Gold One is a dual listed (ASX/JSE: GDO) mid-tier mining group with gold operations and gold and uranium prospects across Southern Africa. Gold One remains focused on developing and mining low technical risk, high margin precious metal resources in diversified jurisdictions.
The company's flagship Modder East gold mine, commissioned in 2009, distinguishes itself from most other gold mines in South Africa owing to its shallow nature (300 to 500 metres below surface) and continues to ramp up production, having produced 123,179 ounces in 2011.
At the beginning of 2012, the group expanded further with the acquisition of the Cooke 1, 2 and 3 Underground Operations and the Cooke surface assets (Randfontein Surface Operations) located in the West Rand, 30 kilometers from Johannesburg. The Cooke underground operations continue to deliver in line with expectations and are currently the subject of a turnaround intervention.
Through Gold One's purchase of Rand Uranium (Pty) Limited, the group has also acquired one of the world's most advanced uranium projects, which envisages recovering uranium, gold and sulphur from the Cooke Tailings Dam and underground ores.
During mid-2012 Gold One also completed its transaction with First Uranium Corporation and acquired 100% of the Ezulwini Mining Company (Pty) Limited, giving the company access to gold and uranium processing plants with nameplate capacities of 200,000 and 100,000 tonnes per month respectively. Ezulwini is contiguous to the company's Cooke Underground and Randfontein Surface operations.
Access to the uranium production facility will allow for near term production of uranium from underground ore mined at Cooke. In addition, the sharing of services between Ezulwini and the Cooke Underground Operations will facilitate a reduction in operating costs. An integrated plan has been developed which will see Ezulwini being incorporated into the greater Cooke Underground Operations as Cooke 4 Shaft.
The Gold One group is majority-owned by a consortium comprising Baiyin Non-Ferrous Group Co. Limited, the China-Africa Development Fund, and Long March Capital Limited, and has an issued share capital of 1,416,315,461 shares.
This news release does not constitute investment advice. Neither this news release nor the information contained in it constitutes an offer, invitation, solicitation or recommendation in relation to the purchase or sale of securities in any jurisdiction.
Statement issued by Gold One through the JSE SENS service, October 3 2012
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