Lawyers representing gold miners suffering from the deadly lung disease silicosis said on Thursday they had filed a class action lawsuit application against the South African arm of global mining giant Anglo American.
The application by the legal groups from South Africa and Britain is the latest in several class action suits being lined up against South Africa’s once mighty gold mining industry.
It is likely to be several months before a judge rules whether the case can proceed.
Anglo American, which switched its headquarters from Johannesburg to London in 1999, no longer has gold mines in South Africa but the lawyers said its Johannesburg-based unit still had assets of around $15 billion.
The lawyers include London’s Leigh Day and South Africa’s Legal Resources Centre, a practice focusing on human rights.
See http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-political-economy?oid=181079&sn=Detail