The latest set of financial results of platinum mining company Lonmin had the company turning the corner. The share price rose sharply as cash flowed on higher platinum sales. But Lonmin CEO Ben Magara was quick to remind shareholders of the platinum industry’s next challenge of new wage talks with labour unions. He was sanguine on wage-negotiation risk being increased by the upcoming local government elections and spoke of being cautiously optimistic, owing to continuous engagement with its employees on current economic realities. Hopefully, Lonmin will avoid returning to its cash-burning past and stave off having to refund once more in the near term.