The South African mining industry is facing “a very serious” threat from silicosis claims that could result in implied damage of $100-billion, says RBC Capital Markets equity research unit. RBC analyst Leon Esterhuizen and associate analysts…say that the ruling of the Constitutional Court of South Africa in favour of Thembekile Mankayi opens the door to him and thousands of other silicosis sufferers to sue the South African mining companies...South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers is pursuing a class action lawsuit against the company and is drawing up a register of not only those suffering from respiratory disease, but also those who have died from it. The analysts see the new case as a test case that could further damage an “already hammered" South African mining sector.