South Africa mining union accepts Northam Platinum wage offer

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Friday it had accepted a wage increase offer from mid-tier platinum producer Northam Platinum, likely ending a 75-day strike by more than 7,000 miners. NUM said in a statement the overall increase of basic wages would be between 9.8 and 11.8 percent, roughly double the inflation rate of 5.3 percent. The union said it still needed to sign the two-year agreement, so it was not immediately clear when its members would return to work. Union spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu told Reuters he expected miners to return to the shafts next week. The strike has cost Northam almost 700 million rand in lost revenue, and is winding down just as a far bigger one looms on South Africa's restive platinum belt. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) said on Thursday its members had voted in favour of a strike over wages at Lonmin Plc, the world's third-largest platinum producer, and that they would down tools next week. AMCU members have also voted in favour of a stoppage at Impala Platinum over wages and the union will canvas its rank and file at Anglo American Platinum, the world's top producer, at a mass rally on Sunday. The three producers account for more than half of global output of the precious metal used for emissions-capping catalytic converters in automobiles.