The errant Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and the litigious Chamber of Mines of South Africa spent a day or two in the High Court in mid-2016. Both spent another two days in the High Court on Thursday and Friday of last week. They are due to spend another two days in the High Court on the 13th and 14th of next month. The Chamber of Mines’ court application involves the DMR footing the bill for all this litigation, which could mean that all the legal costs might be borne by the South African taxpayer. But, at the end of the day, that cost would be negligible, provided the outcome is a competitive, inclusive and transformative policy and legislative framework for mining, which has much to offer if allowed to perform. Reinstate the ‘once empowered, always empowered charter’ understanding of 2004, remove the unworkable parts of Mining Charter III and mining is bound to leverage fresh growth into the growth-starved South African economy.