Job cuts to come at the largest platinum mine

Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the world's second largest platinum producer, has already cut 2,500 jobs in the year to June and says there could be more cuts by the end of the year. Only 3 out of 10 mines in the aging mining complex have made money since March. Since then, the situation has only worsened: platinum prices fell another 9% and reached a nine-year low last week.

The state of Rustenburg employs about 31,000 people. It will be difficult for the company to avoid production cuts if prices remain low, said Rene Hochreiter, an analyst at Noah Capital Markets Ltd. "At this price of platinum, there is little that can be done," Hochreiter said. “They survived, but this is not a very good strategy amid falling metal prices.

In March, the company said its strategic direction would be to “reorient or close down loss-making areas” and could lead to the closure of mines earlier than planned.