Rossing offers incentive scheme

THE Rossing uranium mine at Arandis has introduced a production reward for employees instead of a general salary increase for the year.

The safe production reward will serve as an incentive for employees to increase their monthly salaries by at least five per cent if a production target is achieved or exceeded safely, said David Salisbury, Rossing Managing Director, in a media release. The target is to produce 10 tonnes of uranium oxide daily.If achieved, this means an employee earning N$6 000 per month will get an additional N$300 per month.(Uranium oxide is the operation’s final product and is used at nuclear power facilities around the world for the generation of electricity.)According to Salisbury, the company wants to place itself in a favourable position to try and take advantage of the increased uranium oxide spot market price, while still honouring its committed sale contracts of about 3 000 tonnes for 2004.The spot market price increased from around US$10 per pound a year ago, to a current price of US$15,50/lb.The incentive scheme will be in place from Sunday.”The company can offer this incentive whereas it cannot grant a salary increase because the incentive is paid only if production targets are met assuring the necessary cash to support the business,” said Salisbury.Employees will be given daily communication updates on progress made.The programme is voluntary and is not a condition of employment and will be reviewed regularly to evaluate whether it is achieving its goal.Another condition is that employees will have to work safely to qualify for the monthly increase.The incentive announcement was made a day after about 500 workers staged a demonstration at the mine on Tuesday demanding clarity on the future of the mine in light of claims that the operation could close within six months.In response to the union petition, Salisbury said in an employee brief issued yesterday: “No announcement has ever been made that the mine will close in six months.We are continuously looking at ways on how to become more efficient and cost effective in our production.During the second half of this year a final decision will be taken whether the mine will go into operation that could extend the life of mine or that the mine closes by 2007”.He added that despite the N$140 million loss made last year, the company was given a “clean bill of health” as a going concern by auditors recently.The target is to produce 10 tonnes of uranium oxide daily. If achieved, this means an employee earning N$6 000 per month will get an additional N$300 per month. (Uranium oxide is the operation’s final product and is used at nuclear power facilities around the world for the generation of electricity.) According to Salisbury, the company wants to place itself in a favourable position to try and take advantage of the increased uranium oxide spot market price, while still honouring its committed sale contracts of about 3 000 tonnes for 2004. The spot market price increased from around US$10 per pound a year ago, to a current price of US$15,50/lb. The incentive scheme will be in place from Sunday. “The company can offer this incentive whereas it cannot grant a salary increase because the incentive is paid only if production targets are met assuring the necessary cash to support the business,” said Salisbury. Employees will be given daily communication updates on progress made. The programme is voluntary and is not a condition of employment and will be reviewed regularly to evaluate whether it is achieving its goal. Another condition is that employees will have to work safely to qualify for the monthly increase. The incentive announcement was made a day after about 500 workers staged a demonstration at the mine on Tuesday demanding clarity on the future of the mine in light of claims that the operation could close within six months. In response to the union petition, Salisbury said in an employee brief issued yesterday: “No announcement has ever been made that the mine will close in six months. We are continuously looking at ways on how to become more efficient and cost effective in our production. During the second half of this year a final decision will be taken whether the mine will go into operation that could extend the life of mine or that the mine closes by 2007”. He added that despite the N$140 million loss made last year, the company was given a “clean bill of health” as a going concern by auditors recently.

THE Rossing uranium mine at Arandis has introduced a production reward for employees instead of a general salary increase for the year.

The safe production reward will serve as an incentive for employees to increase their monthly salaries by at least five per cent if a production target is achieved or exceeded safely, said David Salisbury, Rossing Managing Director, in a media release. The target is to produce 10 tonnes of uranium oxide daily.If achieved, this means an employee earning N$6 000 per month will get an additional N$300 per month.(Uranium oxide is the operation’s final product and is used at nuclear power facilities around the world for the generation of electricity.)According to Salisbury, the company wants to place itself in a favourable position to try and take advantage of the increased uranium oxide spot market price, while still honouring its committed sale contracts of about 3 000 tonnes for 2004.The spot market price increased from around US$10 per pound a year ago, to a current price of US$15,50/lb.The incentive scheme will be in place from Sunday.”The company can offer this incentive whereas it cannot grant a salary increase because the incentive is paid only if production targets are met assuring the necessary cash to support the business,” said Salisbury.Employees will be given daily communication updates on progress made.The programme is voluntary and is not a condition of employment and will be reviewed regularly to evaluate whether it is achieving its goal.Another condition is that employees will have to work safely to qualify for the monthly increase.The incentive announcement was made a day after about 500 workers staged a demonstration at the mine on Tuesday demanding clarity on the future of the mine in light of claims that the operation could close within six months.In response to the union petition, Salisbury said in an employee brief issued yesterday: “No announcement has ever been made that the mine will close in six months.We are continuously looking at ways on how to become more efficient and cost effective in our production.During the second half of this year a final decision will be taken whether the mine will go into operation that could extend the life of mine or that the mine closes by 2007”.He added that despite the N$140 million loss made last year, the company was given a “clean bill of health” as a going concern by auditors recently.The target is to produce 10 tonnes of uranium oxide daily. If achieved, this means an employee earning N$6 000 per month will get an additional N$300 per month. (Uranium oxide is the operation’s final product and is used at nuclear power facilities around the world for the generation of electricity.) According to Salisbury, the company wants to place itself in a favourable position to try and take advantage of the increased uranium oxide spot market price, while still honouring its committed sale contracts of about 3 000 tonnes for 2004. The spot market price increased from around US$10 per pound a year ago, to a current price of US$15,50/lb. The incentive scheme will be in place from Sunday. “The company can offer this incentive whereas it cannot grant a salary increase because the incentive is paid only if production targets are met assuring the necessary cash to support the business,” said Salisbury. Employees will be given daily communication updates on progress made. The programme is voluntary and is not a condition of employment and will be reviewed regularly to evaluate whether it is achieving its goal. Another condition is that employees will have to work safely to qualify for the monthly increase. The incentive announcement was made a day after about 500 workers staged a demonstration at the mine on Tuesday demanding clarity on the future of the mine in light of claims that the operation could close within six months. In response to the union petition, Salisbury said in an employee brief issued yesterday: “No announcement has ever been made that the mine will close in six months. We are continuously looking at ways on how to become more efficient and cost effective in our production. During the second half of this year a final decision will be taken whether the mine will go into operation that could extend the life of mine or that the mine closes by 2007”. He added that despite the N$140 million loss made last year, the company was given a “clean bill of health” as a going concern by auditors recently.

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