The South African government and its central bank chief have warned that strike-hit platinum mines could close, throwing miners out of work and rocking an already shaky economy.
The world's three biggest platinum miners - Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin - have been deadlocked with strikers demanding better pay for nearly five months.
"The situation is grave," Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi said on Tuesday.
"The longer the strike goes on the more likelihood of shafts being closed."
Ramatlhodi on Monday abandoned mediation efforts between AMCU, the union representing the striking workers and their employers after they failed to reach an agreement.
"I suspect there will be job losses, realistically," he said.
Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus said that even if the industrial action were to end now, it is "possible that a number of shafts will never re-open".
She warned that platinum exports would be hit hard, although the mines have "significant" inventories of the mineral, which is used to make jewellery and catalytic converters in cars.
But these stocks are being depleted and "the longer the strike continues, the sooner the adverse effects on exports will be felt," said Marcus.
The domestic economy is facing "enormous headwinds", she told a meeting in Johannesburg.
She cautioned "the slowdown we have experienced is domestically driven, largely self-inflicted and we cannot blame external factors alone".
More than 70,000 miners stopped work on January 23 to back their demand that the minimum monthly basic wage be doubled to $US1,180 ($A1,200), which producers say they cannot afford.
The strike has cost employers $US2 billion in revenue while workers have forfeited about $US945 million in wages and benefits, according to industry figures.
Mining firms estimate the strike has already affected 45 per cent of the global supply of platinum.
South Africa holds around 80 per cent of the world's known platinum reserves.
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