Miner Lonmin says back to full production ahead of schedule

(Reuters) - Lonmin (LMI.L), the world's third-largest platinum producer, said on Wednesday it had returned to full production earlier than forecast after a five-month strike, exceeding 2013 output levels in both August and September.

Along with the rest of South Africa's platinum industry, Lonmin has battled persistent labour unrest over wages, along with low commodity prices and rising costs.

Lonmin had not given a target date for a return to full production after the strike ended in June, but had been expected to recover by the year end.

"The planning rigour we applied before the strike ended has paid off," Ben Magara, chief executive of Lonmin told Reuters at a mining conference in Johannesburg.

In Wednesday's statement Lonmin did not give specific output details for the last two months, but said they had been above August and September 2013, when it mined one million tonnes and 1.04 million tonnes respectively.

"From August onwards, Lonmin has achieved steady-state production at normal levels," the company said, adding that employees had returned to work in greater numbers faster than expected.

This year's strike was the longest and costliest for Lonmin, losing the miner 5.6 million tonnes of ore, containing around 348,000 equivalent saleable platinum ounces.

Magara said he went on a roadshow to all the Lonmin shafts, which is based on the platinum belt in the mining town of Rustenburg, to rally workers around the return to work.

"We were always convinced that our employees wanted to come back to work and immediately the gates opened they were ready to do their bit."

The mining company has to now contend with low prices for the white metal as it tumbled to a five-year low at $1,183.25 on Monday and continues to hover at those prices.

Magara said the current low platinum prices in the industry were an opportunity to be "innovative and more efficient".

"I have seen cycles before, even this will pass," he said.

"It's about how we emerge after a long strike like this and out of such low prices. We have to think differently."

Lonmin will publish its fourth-quarter production report and final results on Nov. 10.

Johannesburg-listed shares of Lonmin (LONJ.J) rose almost 1.8 percent while the broad All-share index (.JALSH) fell 1.5 percent.

(Reporting By Clara Ferreira-Marques and Zandi Shabalala; editing by Susan Thomas and Elaine Hardcastle)