Sit-ins end at two S.Africa platinum mines: union

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A sit-in by workers over a wage dispute that halted production at a South African platinum mine earlier this week ended late on Thursday, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Friday.

Supply of platinum was not affected as the company relied on its stockpiles to sustain market supply.

Production at the mine, jointly owned by African Rainbow Minerals and Impala Platinum, was halted on Tuesday when workers remained underground demanding back pay. The mine is managed by ARM.

"The sit-in ended last night with the intervention of the police ... we expect production to be back to normal," NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka told Reuters.

Seshoka said that another sit-in at Anooraq Resources' Bokoni platinum mine in South Africa had also ended after the workers were presented with a police interdict requiring them to leave the mine.

He said the union would engage with workers and management to tackle the reasons for the disputes.