Three South African mining companies have shut down mines as the country's national energy provider struggles to meet demand.
Mining companies stopped thousands of workers going underground today after a warning by energy utility Eskom that it could not guarantee power.
BHP Billiton has also shut down two of its manganese mines in the Northern Cape according to the company.
Power supply has also been cut to the company's three aluminium smelters in southern Africa.
The world's second-biggest ferrochrome producer, Samancor Chrome plans to shut all its furnaces in South Africa within the next 24 hours, which could last up to six weeks.
The power shutdowns over the last few weeks have meant entire regions of South Africa are dark for up to five hours a day, which is, in turn, causing a detrimental effect on the country's economy, say analysts.
Today AngloGold, Africa's biggest gold producer, dropped as much as 8.6% while Gold Fields fell 11% to 105.30 rand. Anglo Platinum declined 2.1% to 950 rand while Impala lost 6.9% to 230.86 rand, writes Bloomberg.
By staff writer
