The world’s biggest diamond producer De Beers has offered its South African workers a 7% increase, after the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) demanded an 11% increase, the union’s national spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said on Friday.

In a telephone interview with Mining Weekly Online, he warned that, should the diamond giant not improve its offer by Monday, the union would register a dispute, which could lead to a strike.

De Beers spokesperson Tom Tweedy said that the firm had made an “attractive” offer, and that it sought to find reconciliation with its workers.

The negotiations began on June 5.

“We will take it step brevolving hammer rock crushersy step and follow the regular processes,” Tweedy stated, adding that the company wished to sustain its South African operations, and even grow them.

However, the NUM said that it would settle for nothing less than a double-digit increase.

Meanwhile, its negotiators at Kumba Iron Ore (KIO) said that they too would accept no less than a double-digit increase for its members employed by the company.</pstone crusher libya>

The NUM had demanded a 13,5% increase from KIO, where the country's biggest iron-ore producer was only offering 6%.

Double-digit demands the order of the day

The NUM had also demanded double-digit increases for its members in the platinum, gold and coal sectors.

The world’s biggest platinum-miner, Anglo Platinum (Angloplat) had initially offered a 5% increase, which the union dismissed as an “insult&rdused stone crushers north americaquo;.

The platinum giant subsequently upped its offer by 1%, but discarded a one-off 30% bonus for workers that was part of the original offer.

Angloplat was set to meet with the NUM negotiators again next week on June 12 and June 13.

Meanwhile, Angloplat’s smaller peer, Impala Platinum (Implats), had met with the NUM on June 4, but had yet to submit its offer in response to the demand of a 15% inccost of boulders crushing machinerease from the NUM.

Seshoka said that he expected Implats to table its offer when the union met with the firm on June 13.

The NUM had demanded a 15% increase from the Chamber of Mines for its members in the gold and coal sectors.
Smaller peer union Solidarity on May 25 said that it was seeking a 20% increase for its members in the gold sector.

Unions eye high inflation, high commodity prices

The unions representing workers in the mining sector had said that they would not settle for increases less than double digits, as mining companies were enjoying lucrative profits on the back of a commodity price rally.

Platinum-miners, in particular, were enjoying super profits as metal prices soared.

Unions were also quick in pointing to inflation, which had exceeded the government’s target range in the past quarter, and was expected to remain outside it until the end of the year.

Inflation for the second quarter was 6,3%, where government had targeted to keep it between 3% and 6%.

However, mining companies, and gold producers in particular, are likely to point out that costs in South Africa’s gold mining sector have been soaring as production slides – the country produced 7,6% less gold in the first quarter of 2007, when compared with the same period last year – and wages account for much of the gold mining companies’ costs.

South Africa is the world’s largest gold-producing country, and accounts for more than two-thirds of global platinum output.