Freeport has faced a host of issues at the mine, including significant labor disruptions and now this regulation.

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The related business returns include a more educated workforce, more productive employees, and less risk of labor disruptions.

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Any meaningful pick-up in demand should be supportive since supply remains constrained due to factors such as labor disruptions, declining ore grades and limited new major discoveries.

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The labor unrest had left many analysts forecasting a smaller-than-expected market surplus for platinum this year, with some saying the market could even become balanced if the labor disruptions lasted for long enough.

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It increases labor strife and disruptions as wage negotiations make unions more importance to workers.

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Platinum group metals have continued their run to multi-month highs amid labor-related supply disruptions in South Africa, and some analysts look for further price gains in the months ahead due to the combination of these disruptions and improved demand whenever stimulus leads to a stronger economy.

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Second, as Shell President John Hofmeister pointed out in his testimony, prices are shooting skyward in part because of rising demand in China and India, the rising cost of materials and labor, and international events, such as supply disruptions in the Niger Delta.

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These include increasing difficulties of mining far below the ground in the key producing nation of South Africa, as well as labor issues that mean higher costs and the threat of supply disruptions due to strikes.

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