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Company spokesman Stewart Bailey told Reuters that the 50% rate is its goal, though the first shift after the restart was at just 9% of its normal crew numbers.
The miner announced recently it had confirmed a large number of cases of COVID-19 among its workforce. It has not released further information on recoveries, though Bailey told the newswire many of the confirmed cases have been asymptomatic.
Mponeng, located in the West Wits mining district southwest of Johannesburg, sits on the border between Gauteng and the North West province.
The underground mine currently extracts from the Ventersdorp Contact Reef (VRC) via a twin-shaft system at depths between 2,800 metres and 3,400m.
All South Africa mining operations were permitted to reopen at their respective full capacities beginning June 1.
