UPDATE 1- NUM plans safety strike at Gold Fields

(Adds Gold Fields comment)

By James Macharia

JOHANNESBURG, July 7 (Reuters) - The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Monday it would down tools to protest against the mounting rate of workers' deaths at Gold Fields' (GFIJ.J) four operations in South Africa at a date to be set in August.

Gold Fields, the world's fourth biggest gold producer, has so far suffered about a quarter of South Africa's 85 mine fatalities this year, including one two weeks ago when two workers were killed at its key Kloof mine after a tremor.

Peter Bailey, the NUM's health and safety head, said the union would seek a strike permit from authorities, in a bid to highlight the crisis and force the firm to focus on safety.

"The strike could be in mid-August at the latest, or it could be sooner depending on how fast we can prepare," he said.

"It will affect all four Gold Fields operations. You have to take into cognisance the workers that have been killed at the company's mines. We have to bring to the attention of the public and investors how this company is run."

He said the NUM intended to bus the company's workers to demonstrate at Gold Fields' offices in Johannesburg.

South Africa, a major producer of gold and the world's top source of platinum, suffered more mine deaths last year than the year before, and the 320,000-strong NUM staged a national one-day strike in December to force firms to focus on safety.

Daniel Thole, a spokesman for Gold Fields, said the firm had not yet received notice of any official dispute from the NUM, and could not make a substantive comment for now. He said about 32,900 workers at Gold Fields' were under NUM.

According to its records, 23 workers have died at its South African operations between January and end-June this year. Gold Fields South African mines are Driefontein, Kloof, Beatrix and South Deep, which is under development.

Gold Fields has had a string of mishaps this year. It briefly stopped development work at its big South Deep gold mine in early May after nine workers were killed after the cage in which they were riding hurtled down a shaft.

After the incident, Gold Fields' Chief Executive Officer, Nick Holland said safety was the group's top priority, and has commissioned an external safety audit of its operations.

A strike would hurt Gold Fields output in a month that may also see further strike action with the country's labour federation, COSATU, calling its affiliates, including the NUM, to down tools in protest against rising food, fuel, electricity prices and soaring interest rates.

So far the government reacted by shutting down mines whenever the deaths occurred, hurting mining output, but a new Mine Health and Safety Amendment bill, still to be debated in parliament, would seek to improve safety in mines, and impose bigger fines for safety offenders.

The government said mineworker deaths rose by 11 percent last year to 221 from 2006, the first jump since 2002, as mine workers were killed by rockfalls, explosions or buried underground during earth tremors in a country with the world's deepest gold mines, most of which are labour intensive. (Reporting by James Macharia; editing by Barbara Sladkowska)