(MENAFN- AFP) Global miner Anglo American said on Thursday that platinum production slumped 40 percent in the second quarter, hit by South African strikes which ended last month.
Anglo American, which is the world's biggest producer of platinum, said in a statement that it produced 358,000 ounces of refined platinum products in the three months to June 30, compared with the same period a year earlier.
"Platinum equivalent refined production decreased by 40 percent to 358,000 ounces as a result of the industrial action at Rustenburg, Amandelbult and Union mines in South Africa," Anglo said in the update.
The world's biggest platinum producers - Lonmin, Anglo-American Platinum (Amplats) and Impala Platinum - signed a wage agreement with a radical union on June 24 to end South Africa's longest mining strike.
The five-month strike hit production in the world's top platinum-exporting country, with companies reporting a combined loss of 24 billion rand ($2.27 billion) in earnings and 10.6 billion rand (about $1 billion) in workers' wages.
Aside from platinum, Anglo American added on Thursday that output rose across the rest of its commodities, including copper and diamonds.
Production of iron ore - which accounts for approximately half of Anglo's earnings - climbed by two percent to 11.5 million metric tonnes.
Copper output grew six percent to 194,400 tonnes on the back of rising productivity at the group's mining operations in Chile.
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