Nine inductees to South Africa’s new Mining Hall of Fame were announced on the eve of the October 5 opening of the Joburg Indaba 2016, where guest speaker Neal Froneman, the CEO of Sibanye Gold, proposed a new roadmap for mining to ensure equitable benefits for all stakeholders.

Ahead of Bobby Godsell, Patrice Motsepe, Sipho Nkosi, Gwede Mantashe, May Hermanus, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka, Brian Gilbertson, Mark Bristow and Barry Davison being named as hall of fame inductees by Joburg Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel, Froneman urged South Africa to put an end to its adversarial mining relationships and allow the industry to play its part in delivering a stronger shared economic future for all South Africans.

At a preconference gala dinner attended by Mining Weekly, Froneman urged that South Africa’s mineral endowment be directed towards being a blessing rather than a curse.

He said that the Mining Phakisa initiative was demonstrating that valuable links could be forged between the State and the private sector, as evidenced by the revived public–private mining equipment development hub in Carlow road.

He urged that the realisation of mineral riches not be hampered by a lack of trust between government and business but instead be stimulated by leaders tackling the factors inhibiting the growth of the mining economy in South Africa and Africa.

The Fraser Institute had, he said, highlighted the need for South Africa to improve its investment attractiveness.

Business needed to play a leadership role by acknowledging its past as the flywheel of the national economy but also as one that had often failed to act humanely and in a morally correct manner.

The industry should now commit itself to a very different way of doing business.

Injustice needs to be acknowledged, forgiveness sought and the industry’s legacy of mistrust unwound through faith and leadership.

Mineral policy needs to be integrated with developmental policy and developmental linkages need to be established.

A modernised mining industry must be one in which all stakeholders benefit.

A social and economic compact is needed that articulates the basis on which the new relationships are founded.

Business must commit to open and transparent provision of information, pursue zero harm in safety and health and ensure that benefits flow equitably to all stakeholders.

All stakeholders should, in turn, promote the economic sustainability of mines and industrial action that compromises sustainability should be avoided.

Communities need to understand the ups and downs of the industry and governments need to provide regulatory certainty and infrastructure.

All stakeholders need collectively to protect the sustainability of the industry.

The top keynote opening speakers at the Joburg Indaba conference on October 5 included African National Congress economic transformation head Enoch Godongwana, AngloGold Ashanti chairperson Sipho Pityana and former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.

A central theme of this year’s Joburg Indaba was how the industry could better manage elements in its control, including productivity, costs, safety, volumes, growth and expansion.

This year’s sold-out event attracted a full house of regulators, CEOs, labour, analysts, investors and suppliers to mining.

The last two Joburg Indabas held critical conversations on the topic of mechanisation and modernisation and, this year, CEOs went face to face with fund managers, mining communities, labour unions and investment analysts in unpacking their divergent challenges.

This year’s line-up included Godsell, Bristow, Gilbertson, Nkosi, Andile Sangqu, Chris Griffith, Nick Holland, Norman Mbazima, Mike Teke, Steve Phiri, Peter Major, Mike Schmidt, Peter Steenkamp, Deshnee Naidoo, David Msiza, Niël Pretorius, Cobus Loots, Themba Mkhwanazi and Johan Dippenaar.

At the Joburg Indaba 2016, stakeholders of the South African mining industry openly collaborated on how they were going to take charge of the future of South African mining, on what was actually within their control, and how they were going to attract investment.

Mining Halls of Fame

While South Africa is the last large mining jurisdiction to launch a mining hall of fame, details of mining halls of fame in the US, Canada and Australia can be accessed on the Internet.

In the US, there is a national mining hall of fame and museum in the 1880s silver boomtown of Leadville, Colorado, located at the top of the Rocky Mountains, “in memory of the men and women who pioneered the discovery, development and processing of America’s natural resources”. Established in 1987, it is referred to as the ‘Smithsonian of the Rockies’ and the ‘Premier Showcase of American Mining’.

Canada’s mining hall of fame website ascribes the high standard of living enjoyed by Canadians to the development of the country’s rich natural resources and Australia’s prospectors and miners hall of fame has inducted 140-plus people who have shown leadership, courage, sustained effort or sheer grit.

This hall of fame exists as a virtual, Web-based resource to provide information on the heritage of prospectors and miners from all parts of Australia.

More recently, an international mining technology hall of fame was established to recognise mining’s technical innovators.