TALKS to end a strike over working arrangements at South Africa’s South Deep gold mine were due to resume on Monday, company officials said on Saturday. About 2 800 National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) members at the mine, located 40km southwest of Johannesburg, downed tools on Friday to demand equal holidays, in particular six days over Easter and Christmas when many South African mines are closed for a week or more. The demand for equal holidays comes on the heels of last month’s complaints by the Chamber of Mines that a raft of public holidays in 2000 had negatively impacted on production and pushed up costs. The strike only affects members of the NUM, one of four unions at South Deep. The strike has affected production, but work on an expansion project continues. – Reuters