Johannesburg - Impala Platinum, the world's number two producer, on Thursday fired 13,000 miners who went on an illegal strike in South Africa, the company said in a statement.

"Approximately 13,000 mining employees who participated in the illegal work stoppage at Impala Rustenburg... have been dismissed," parent company Implats said.

Miners downed tools on Monday demanding higher wages, grounding operations to a halt. Workers had been given until Wednesday to return to the job, the statement added.

Over the past month, the Johannesburg-based company has sacked a total of about 17,200 workers at its mine in the northwestern town of Rustenburg -- more than half of the 30,000 people employed in the town.

"There is no production at the mine," Implats spokeswoman Alice Lourens told AFP on Thursday.

"It's costing us in the region of 3,000 ounces of platinum a day."

Impala secured a court interdict against the strike and said it would fire those who still refused to work.

The company said it would rehire miners who wanted to reapply for work. Lourens could not say when this would start.