South Africa - Mine Protests Hit Top World Platinum Firm

Machete-wielding strikers forced top world platinum producer Anglo American Platinum to shut down some of its South African operations on Wednesday, widening the labour unrest which is sweeping the country's mining industry.

A column of 1,500 chanting marchers confronted a small group of riot police backed by armoured vehicles on approach roads to the firm's Bathopele shaft in the "platinum belt" near Rustenburg, 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.

The protesters jeered workers inside the plant, a repeat of action taken on Monday at rival Lonmin's neighbouring Marikana mine, where police shot dead 34 protesters on August 16.

"All of us, we're going to close all the operations, starting from Rustenburg. We'll go even to the gold mines to stop the operations," marcher Evans Ramokga said.

The platinum price jumped 3 percent to $1,654.49 an ounce, its highest since early April, during the day due to investors' fears of more disruption to supplies of the precious metal used in jewellery and vehicle catalytic converters.

South Africa is home to 80 percent of known reserves of platinum, the price of which has gained nearly 20 percent since the Marikana shootings, the bloodiest security incident since the end of apartheid in 1994.

The rand also dropped two percent.

The "Marikana massacre" has poisoned industrial relations across the mining sector and highlighted the ruling African National Congress's failure to keep its promises to reduce poverty in the post-apartheid era.

The bloodshed and the government's inability to resolve the unrest undermining already shaky growth in Africa's biggest economy is also fuelling a campaign against President Jacob Zuma, who faces an internal ANC leadership battle in December.

Anglo American Platinum, also known as Amplats, said it had halted work at its four Rustenburg mines, which account for 17 percent of its output, due to fears for the safety of its 19,000 staff there.

Police said the trouble started with a confrontation between 1,000 demonstrators and mine security on Tuesday night, before spreading to other shafts owned by the company, which accounts for 40 percent of world platinum output.

Amplats's Rustenburg shafts have been under pressure since platinum prices collapsed after the 2008 financial crisis. Analysts expect them to be targeted as "restructuring candidates" by parent company Anglo American.