President Steyn mine

22 Jul 2005 07:00

Thistle Mining Inc.22 July 2005 Thistle Issues a Section 189A Notice to Unions at its President Steyn Mine in South Africa Toronto, July 22, 2005 - Thistle Mining Inc. ("Thistle") (TSX: THT and AIM: TMG) Thistle announces that on July 21, 2005, management of its President Steynoperation in South Africa presented a Section 189A notice and a notice to deferwage negotiations to the National Union of Mine Workers (approximately 4,038members) and Solidarity (approximately 701 members) in accordance with theprovisions of the South African Labour Relations Act (the "LRA") Section 189A of the LRA requires notice to be given to relevant unions in theevent that management is contemplating a restructuring that could lead toretrenchments or redundancies becoming necessary. Following delivery of suchnotice, the company and the unions must engage in a process of consultation, thepurpose of which is to attempt to reach agreement on a broad range of labourissues. These labour issues include measures to avoid jobs losses and, shouldthese become necessary, the timing, selection criteria and the severance termsrelating to such job losses. The parties must also consider mitigating any othereffects of the restructuring. The company may not dismiss any employees duringthe 60-day mandatory consultation period. Thereafter, the company may givenotice to employees, taking into account any agreements reached. Management believes this process is a necessary step towards returning thePresident Steyn mine to profitability. It is the objective of Thistle'smanagement to generate free cash flow at its President Steyn operations by early2006 at current gold prices and exchange rates. Although management is committedto exploring all alternatives, job losses may be unavoidable. A preliminaryassessment would suggest that up to 2,000 jobs or approximately 38% of thelabour force at the President Steyn operation could be affected. Management also anticipates that, given the climate of uncertainty during the60-day consultation period, production may be affected. The potential loss inproduction is, however, difficult to quantify. For further information, contact Andreas Graetz, Chief Financial Officer, +27763179042, Brian Gibson, Public Relations, +27 118801510, or Paul Marchand,Company Secretary, +44 20 7494 6060. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange