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To: Alex who wrote (39112)	8/16/1999 3:22:00 PM
From: Enigma	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 116753

Nice POG recovery today - spot - frankly I was surprised to see so many here on the bearish bandwagon after news of CBs meeting - the fact that most CBs were mad with B of E seemed on balance to be rather bullish - but the commentator seemed to think that some CBs felt they might have to sell their gold too - whoever made that report seemed to be having a slow day at the office - or else maybe teevee in another guise - talking of whom - he seems to be a hit and run poster? d

To: Alex who wrote (39112)	8/17/1999 8:01:00 AM
From: Rarebird	Respond to of 116753

Africa coal strike looms after gold mine deal By Darren Schuettler JOHANNESBURG, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Thousands of South African coal miners were expected to strike later today or on Wednesday in a wage dispute with the country's two biggest coal producers, union officials said on Tuesday. A widespread strike by gold miners was largely averted late Monday after the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) signed new wage agreements with three major gold producers. Negotiations were continuing with smaller gold companies on Tuesday, but NUM leaders were now focusing on the coal industry. ''We are looking at the Amcoal mines and the Ingwe mines,'' NUM spokesman George Molebatsi told Reuters. Anglo American Coal (Amcoal) is a member of the Anglo American (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: AAL.L) mining group, while Ingwe is a subsidiary of Billiton (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BLT.L). Another coal miner, Duiker Ltd , settled with the union earlier this month. An Amcoal spokesman said 900 employees at one of the company's nine collieries went on strike on Tuesday, but other operations were not affected. Amcoal, which employs about 15,000 workers, is offering a wage increase of up to 7.5 percent, but the NUM is demanding a nine percent hike. ''The situation is pretty fluid at the moment,'' the Amcoal spokesman told Reuters. About 45 percent of Ingwe's 13,000-strong workforce are expected to down tools later tonight or early Wednesday if there is no new wage agreement. Ingwe management is offering up to 7.5 percent and plans to meet with union officials later today. A strike would affect five of the company's 10 mines. ''They have given notice (of a strike), but we are meeting with the NUM today,'' said Ingwe spokesman Sol Morathi. Meanwhile, talks were continuing with gold companies that have not yet signed a deal to replace the two-year agreement which expired on July 1. AngloGold , Gold Fields , Avgold's Loraine mine, and Western Areas have agreed to new contracts, representing about 70 percent of employees on Chamber of Mines' gold mines. AngloGold agreed to a 10 percent increase for its lowest category workers and nine percent hike for its highest category employees in each year of a two-year deal. Gold Fields, Western Areas and Avgold also signed two-year deals with a nine percent increase in each year. Among those companies that have not yet settled, Durban Roodepoort Deep (DRD) is offering an average seven percent increase. A DRD spokesman said some workers did not report for the morning shift, but operations were unaffected. Randfontein Estates said none of its 12,000 employees walked off the job on Tuesday. ''We have made our offers and we expect the union to come back to us tommorrrow,'' said Mine Manager Syd Caddy. Randfontein is offering between 7.5 and eight percent. A softer bullion price continued to weigh on South African gold stocks on Tuesday. Johannesburg's key gold index was off 1.5 percent at 0850 GMT after losing 4.05 percent on Monday. South Africa is the world's biggest gold producing country with output of 464 tonnes in 1998. This latest dispute comes as South Africa's gold industry is facing mine closures and thousands of job losses due to low prices after Britain announced plans in May to sell more than half its gold reserves.