ISCOR CLOSES DURNACOAL

STEEL giant Iscor said on Monday it would close its 96-year-old Durnacol coal mine in 2000 because continued production there is no longer economically viable. Iscor chairman Hans Smith said in a statement that massive cutbacks in domestic steel production had resulted in a dramatic drop in demand for coal from Durnacol. Iscor mining division general manager Con Fauconnier said the company would start scaling down by 800 its Durnacol workforce of 1450 through payment of negotiated retrenchment packages or re-employment at other Iscor centres.