South Africa’s Harmony Gold (JSE: HAR) (NYSE: HMY) has temporarily
shutter the nine underground mines it has in the home country to comply
with the 21-day lockdown imposed by the government in the wake of the
fast-spreading coronavirus.
The company, however, is keeping Kalgold open-pit mine in the
North West Province in operations as well as Surface treatment plants and retreatment
operations.
Harmony’s Hidden Valley gold mine in Papua New Guinea also remains
open, but subject to any directive issued in line with the south-western
Pacific country’s pandemic response.
As a result of the measures, the Randfontein-based miner expects
to only produce between 650kg to 700kg of gold in South Africa during the
lockdown.
With governments from Africa to Latin America issuing
lockdown orders, disruptions to operations and supply chains are affecting
the outlook for industrial and precious metals.
Work is grinding to a halt and operations at mines are
being temporarily suspended as companies move to enact measures to protect
against the spread of covid-19.
South Africa accounts for 75% of the world’s platinum and
38% of palladium supply, and also produces minerals from gold and manganese to
chrome and iron ore.