UPDATE 3-Anglo says ready to shut mines where safety dictates

(Adds declaration signing, NUM reaction)

By Paul Simao

JOHANNESBURG, April 29 (Reuters) - Mining group Anglo American (AAL.L: Quote, Profile, Research) (AGLJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) is ready to continue shutting mines with poor safety records that result in worker deaths and injuries, Anglo Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll said on Tuesday.

In a presentation to a summit on mining safety, Carroll said the company's record on the issue had improved but that death and injuries remained "shockingly high" at its operations and across the mining sector.

"We've showed that we are prepared to do what is necessary to meet this challenge head-on by shutting down mine shafts at a significant cost to production and the bottom line," Carroll told about 200 representatives from government, industry and labour in Johannesburg.

Carroll later signed a declaration committing the company to work with the South African government and labour to improve safety at its mines across the country.

Last year Anglo Platinum (AMSJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's top platinum producer, shut down several shafts at its Rustenburg mine after a spate of fatalities. The firm is majority-owned by Anglo.

South Africa has one of the highest number of work-related mining deaths in the industrial world, with an average of 244 per year reported between 1997 and 2007.

Four more mineworkers were killed on Tuesday in two separate underground accidents at Gold Fields Ltd's (GFIJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) South Deep and Driefontein mines.