Lonmin says no decision yet on size and shape of restructuring

(Adds analyst comment, background)

LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Platinum producer Lonmin said it has not made a decision on the size and shape of any business restructuring and its immediate aim is to ramp up production after a crippling five-month platinum strike that hit the sector this year.

Industry sources had told Reuters the company is planning a business restructuring, which will include the shut down of some of the company's shafts and job cuts.

"No decisions, about the size and shape of any restructuring of the business, have been made," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

South Africa's longest and costliest mining strike ever almost paralysed Lonmin (LSE: LMI.L - news) 's production and hit its larger rivals Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum (Other OTC: IMPUF - news) too, earlier this year.

Lonmin has estimated it lost around 400,000 ounces of platinum production because of the strike, worth almost $600 million at current prices.

The companies had to agree to a steep wage increase to end the strike in June but higher labour costs are weighing on the companies profitability amid weak platinum prices and are triggering an industry-wide reshaping.

Before the strike Lonmin had the most solid financial position of the three producers but analysts said its balance sheet deteriorated more quickly than those of its peers during the strike as all its main operations were in the strike-hit area and unlike its rivals it could not rely on mines elsewhere.

"I think everyone knows they need to do something but they are between a rock and a hard place," said Investec (LSE: INVP.L - news) analyst Marc Elliott. "Shutting down shafts or cutting jobs would encounter big political opposition and could trigger another strike. But any means to cut operating costs in a sustainable manner is highly desirable."

Lonmin announced earlier this month a change in its executive team, appointing turnaround specialist Johan Lesley Viljoen as chief operating officer, replacing two previously separate roles of executive vice president mining and executive vice president processing.

In July Lonmin said it was aiming to lift production to 80 percent of normal levels by the end of its financial year in September.

"Lonmin's immediate focus following the five-month strike is to achieve a safe ramp up of production in order to rebuild the business and restore profitability," Lonmin said, adding the ramp up was progressing "better than planned".

The miner has said it expects output for its 2014 financial year to be around 340,000 ounces, less than half of what it produced the previous year.

(Reporting by Silvia Antonioli and Ed Stoddard; editing by Louise Heavens and David Evans)