Pamodzi miners to stage mass protest over jobs

* Solidarity, NUM unions to march to demand pay arrears

* Pamodzi struggling to raise cash

* Creditors demand Pamodzi liquidation to recoup cash

JOHANNESBURG, April 7 (Reuters) - South African miners' unions said on Tuesday that some 3,000 workers would demonstrate at junior gold miner Pamodzi Gold Ltd. (PZGJ.J) on Wednesday to protest against non-payment of salaries and possible job losses.

Cash-strapped Pamodzi has already asked court-appointed judicial managers to take over one of its mines, after struggling to pay its workers and creditors.

Unions fear its operations may go under and jobs would likely be lost at the firm, which employs 15,000 workers.

"The non-payment of salaries and the possible job losses facing employees do not only spell a crisis, but the situation is heading for disaster," Dirk Hermann, Solidarity's deputy general secretary said in a statement.

Hermann said members of Solidarity and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) would take part in the protest.

In its last results for June last year Pamodzi had a creditors' book of more than 700 million rand ($77.83 million).

The company said last month that it would not release its financial results for last year due to the uncertainty caused by the liquidation application at the Orkney operations.

This followed a request by Pamodzi asking the Johannesburg Securities Exchange to suspend trading of its shares.

The company's three mines -- Orkney, which has been placed under judicial management, President Steyn, and Grootvlei -- have creditors demanding money and liquidation of the operations so that they can recoup their cash.

The world's No. 3 gold producer, AngloGold Ashanti (ANGJ.J), is one of Orkney's biggest creditors.

Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HARJ.J), the world's fifth biggest gold producer, owns about 32 percent of Pamodzi and has had to write off huge sums as losses owing to the junior miner's woes.

Since a year ago, Pamodzi has been trying to raise about 400 million rand it says it requires to recapitalise its mines and boost the group's output to 400,000 ounces from its last reported production of 56,385 ounces in the June, 2008 quarter. Its long-term goal is to become a million-ounce producer.

Various hurdles, including the global credit crunch, have stood in its way of raising funds, deepening the crisis at the firm.

Mineworkers' unions in South Africa are now worried over the likelihood of further job losses in the mining sector, which has already announced about 24,000 possible job cuts by various producers, mainly platinum miners, owing to the drop of metal prices in the wake of the global financial crisis.

"More than 15,000 employees in the entire Pamodzi group are affected by the issue, which ultimately means that about 150,000 dependants will suffer because of this," Hermann said.

He said the unions will hand over a memorandum with various demands to the company's management.

(Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Rupert Winchester)