Union workers at Stillwater Mine agree to another contract extension

With a deadline looming, Sibanye Stillwater and union workers at the Nye mine have agreed to another contract negotiation extension .

The current collective bargaining agreement between the United Steelworkers local 11-001 and the Stillwater mine is now set to expire on July 6.

Heather McDowell, a Sibanye spokeswoman, said management believed it made a good offer, but workers rejected it.

Over 900 workers are under that contract and the mine says they are hopeful they can agree on a new deal.

Sibanye Stillwater, which is based in South Africa, is North America's only producer of platinum and palladium. The company has struggled in recent years with plummeting prices of palladium, which is primarily used to manufacture catalytic converters in automobiles.