The indispensable nature of South Africa's mining industry needs to be widely acknowledged

摘要

THE MODERN WORLD WOULD BE MUCH THE POORER without mining, which is something to be borne in mind as the industry takes huge strain under the collapse of commodity prices. As often outlined by Chamber of Mines of South Africa CEO Roger Baxter, mining and the minerals are integral to society and really matter for the growth and development of modern economies. While minerals like coal, oil, gas and uranium energise the modern world, smartphones could not function without copper, silver, gold, palladium, platinum, ceramics, titanium dioxide and lesser-known tongue-twisters like indium tin oxide. A car contains close to a ton of iron and steel, 100 kg of aluminium and 19 kg of copper, with the more environment-friendly hybrid requiring double the copper.