Notably, the world's largest platinum miner, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has itself faced substantial disruption and had to temporarily suspend output for a few days and, perhaps more importantly, is still suffering in the fallout from the Marikana problems with militant miners blockading the streets and creating an atmosphere which is not conducive to their fellows returning to work. Indeed the company was reporting yesterday that only around 20% of its miners had turned up at three of its four mines in the area, with rumblings about possible even higher pay increase demands than those which faced Lonmin. Although Amplats is taking a hard line on work absences, in reality you can't just dismiss and immediately replace a large proportion of the workforce, which makes the tough statements almost unenforceable should miners stay away en masse�as Lonmin found to its cost. But the mining companies cannot afford the kinds of pay increases being demanded.