JOHANNESBURG, June 25 (Reuters) - Aquarius Platinum has reached a one-year wage agreement with SouthAfrica's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at its Kroondalmine, a rare deal in an industry rocked by labour unrest and abloody union turf war.
Aquarius, the world's fourth largest platinum producer, saidthe deal was for an average increase slightly above inflation,which is currently running at 5.6 percent.
The deal will be a relief to Aquarius shareholders asdemands that have been presented to gold producers far exceedits settlement. The company's shares rose 4.59 percent tooutperform the All-share index.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU)is demanding gold mining companies more than double the wages ofentry-level workers, while rival NUM is seeking pay rises inthat sector as high as 60 percent.
Aquarius' bigger rivals Lonmin, Impala Platinum and Amplats have yet to start their wage talks, widelyseen to be the toughest ever as ACMU's hardline stance clasheswith falling prices and shrinking margins.
Aquarius also said it had extended an agreement with AngloAmerican Platinum (Amplats), its JV partner atKroondal, which will increase the mine's life to about 9.5 yearsfrom 6.5 years.
NUM still represents the majority of the 8,100 workers atKroondal but elsewhere on the platinum belt it has lost tens ofthousands of members to the more militant AMCU.
The NUM/AMCU battle was one reason why Aquarius last yearwas forced to shut its Everest mine.
