Mining Weekly

Ivanhoe chairperson Robert Friedland, above, is prepared to fulfil every aspiration of the South African government as he goes about applying for a mining licence to build a brand-new long-life, low-cost mechanised platinum mine in Limpopo, which he says will still be producing when we are all long dead. He will mine without killing workers, beneficiate locally, involve the fledgling State mining company, create the broadest of black economic-empower- ment partnerships and list in Johannesburg. Like his neighbour, the rich Mogalakwena mine, he expects, at times, to be able to cover all costs with nickel and copper coproducts alone. He looks forward to platinum being “wildly consumptive” as 37 megacities take shape around the world, all of them requiring platinum galore to do everything from cracking crude oil to ensuring that the city air remains clean.