Anglo Platinum is pleased to announce that it has approved a R283 million Mine Training Centre to be constructed on its Twickenham Mine property in support of the social and labour plans for its new mining projects.
The Mine Training Centre will support the training needs of 2 000 new mining employees per annum and will feed trained employees to new and existing mining projects on the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld complex. The Mine Training Centre will include surface and underground training facilities to equip employees with conventional and mechanised mining skills to match the spread of mining techniques employed by Anglo Platinum.
Construction will commence in June 2007 with the first trainees expected to be enrolled in 2008.
Commenting on the announcement Ralph Havenstein, Chief Executive of Anglo Platinum said, "We are committed to improving our operating efficiency and recognise the positive effects that strong local communities around our operations have on performance. This centre on the underdeveloped Eastern Limb will further boost our ability to support all aspects of our expanding production base and the development of the new mines necessary to achieve our planned platinum growth."
Sello Moloto, Premier of Limpopo province said, "The importance of job creation and poverty alleviation in Limpopo can not be emphasised enough and the appropriate skills acquisition is very important to support the expanding platinum mining business in our province."
In addition to the 2 000 trainees the project will provide 100 new permanent employment opportunities at the mine as well as 100 employment opportunities during the construction phase in the Limpopo province. Practical underground training in a working environment is the primary focus of the Mine Training Centre, however supervisory, infrastructure development and maintenance skills training will also be catered for.
To complement the Mine Training Centre Anglo Platinum has significantly increased its artisan training and tertiary education funding. Anglo Platinum’s Engineering Skills Training Centre ("ESTC") in Gauteng is currently undergoing a R27million upgrade to increase capacity and plans, over the next 5 years, to provide 1 400 qualified artisans. Over the same period Anglo Platinum will provide over 340 new bursaries to students at tertiary institutions, complimenting the current 486 bursars and providing a pipeline of graduates to satisfy the skills requirements of the new mines.
For further information please contact:
Simon Tebele
+27 11 373 6865
+27 83 275 2751