B2Gold Namibia lifts striking workers’ suspensions, returns to full production

B2Gold Namibia has returned to full production after it reinstated approximately 160 workers who were suspended after embarking on an unsanctioned industrial action. 

The gold miner’s chairperson, Dr Leake Hangala, said the decision to resume full operations was taken after a tripartite meeting with the Ministry of Labour, and the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) to discuss the work stoppage that occurred at the Otjikoto Mine and subsequent suspensions of the affected employees. 

“During the meeting, the Minister of Labour confirmed that the Continuous Operation permit (CONTOPS) is valid and that the Company should consider lifting the suspensions and impose a different sanction. The Company agreed to discuss the matter further with the MUN on 12 October 2022,” he said. 

During the meeting, Hangala said the union acknowledged that their members should have followed the internal grievance and dispute mechanisms available to them before embarking on an unsanctioned work stoppage. 

“The MUN apologised for the behaviour of their members and further requested that the Company reconsider the lifting of the suspensions. An amicable solution was reached, and the Company agreed to lift the suspensions and allow the employees to return to work with a warning. The Employees started returning for duty on the morning of 14 October 2022, and the Otjikoto mine is back in full production. Whilst the illegal strike was on, the Otjikoto mine continued its operations,” he said. 

B2Gold Namibia’s Otjikoto Mine is Namibia’s largest gold producer which came into production in December 2014 and had a total of 871 permanent employees and 51 temporary employees by the end of last year.

 B2Gold Namibia is a 90% owned subsidiary of B2Gold Corp, with the remaining 10% owned by EVI Mining Company Limited, a Namibian, broad-based economic empowerment group. 

Canadian gold miner B2Gold says it pumped N$647 million (US$39 million) into the Otjikoto Mine as part of its capital expenditure (CAPEX) for the first half of 2022, including N$315.6 million (US$19 million) into the Wolfshag underground mine development which is currently underway. 

The B2Gold board approved the underground mining project in December 2019 and is estimated to contain 210,000 ounces of gold in 1.2 million tonnes of ore, which will be extracted over four years and expected to realise N$5.9 billion (US$ 403.2 million) in revenue.

 

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