It's high stakes for newly appointed Aquarius CEO

Former company chief operating officer Jean Nel replaces industry veteran Stuart Murray, who resigned in October. "Jean is the latest in a raft of CEO appointments in the platinum sector after a very difficult period for the industry. The CEO role has become increasingly political," Liberum Capital said.

According to Fin24, World no. 4 platinum producer Aquarius, which gets most of its platinum from South Africa, was one of the first major platinum miners to scale back activities because of low prices and violence stemming from a bloody union turf war. Citing labour infighting, Aquarius shut its Everest mine in June, putting 2,000 employees out of jobs. It also closed its unprofitable Marikana joint venture with Anglo Platinum (Amplats). The closures come as companies feel growing political pressure from the government to do more for the workforce against the backdrop of rising labour tensions and persistent income disparities.

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