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Dec 9 (Reuters) - Petra Diamonds Ltd said on Monday
it was in the process halting operations at its Cullinan, Finsch
and Koffiefontein mines in South Africa after state utility
Eskom asked the miner to reduce its electricity load.
Production, hoisting and processing have stopped with
immediate effect and Petra Diamonds is now removing all people
from underground, except those required for essential services,
it said in a statement.
Eskom on Monday said it would cut up to 6,000 megawatts of
power from the national grid as heavy rain and flooding
triggered failures at its Medupi plant.
Petra said only pumping to prevent flooding and ventilation
for safety was being allowed at the mines.
Petra, which has been fixing its balance sheet after
spending much of this decade investing in its flagship Cullinan
mine, said it would issue an update once its knows how long the
load curtailment will last and what impact this is likely to
have on its production performance.
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru. Editing by Jane
Merriman)
