Implats starts mining at shafts closed after deaths

JOHANNESBURG Aug 12 (Reuters) - Impala Platinum (IMPJ.J), the world's second largest platinum producer, said it had re-started production on Monday this week at three shafts shut at its Rustenburg mine in South Africa after an accident.

Nine mineworkers were killed on July 21 and the government ordered the temporary closure of three mechanised sections at the mine affecting sections of No. 12 shaft, 14 shaft and two development areas.

"The order to shut down the mines was lifted mid last week and we resumed production on Monday," Alice Lourens, a spokeswoman for Impala platinum (Implats) said.

"We have yet to estimate how much production was lost, but our guidance at the time of the closure was we would lose about 700 oucnes a day. We are still assessing the loss," she said.

Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu, who visited the site after the incident, said her department would launch a thorough investigation of the mine to see whether Implats had complied with proper safety precautions.

The report is yet to be released to the public.

South Africa, which has the world's deepest mines, has one of the highest rates of work-related mining deaths in the industrialised world. Last year 168 workers died in mines, down 24 percent from the previous year. (Reporting by James Macharia; editing by James Jukwey)