A strike in South Africa's gold mining sector ended on Tuesday after a 2-year wage deal was clinched, unions and the Chamber of Mines said. The strike at AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony began last Thursday and halted output worth up to $25 million a day at bullion's current record prices.
The unions said their members would return to work on Tuesday with the night shift but it will take a day or two before the mines are back to full production. About 100,000 gold mine workers at the trio of companies and a smaller miner downed tools on Thursday, extending a wave of strikes across Africa's largest economy that threaten to curb growth or even push it into contraction.
Harmony said it estimated the strike had cost it about 500 kg or close to 18,000 ounces in lost production. The companies' share prices extended gains on the news as gold scaled new highs over $1,635.00 an ounce on growing concerns about Europe's debt woes and anaemic US growth data.
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