ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses recent changes in the relationship of mine owners to the various constituencies –domestic and global – that affect how they go about the business of finding and extracting value from minerals. Organised labour has made its mark in the remoulding of organisational structures and attitudes at mine level, hastening the demise of the previously military style of management. High-level decision-making structures on matters of industry policy have become tripartite bodies in which mine management engages with both government departments and labour representatives. As South Africa finds its way out of its isolated apartheid past, the mining industry is being called to account on a number of levels - by government, shareholders and civil society. On a business level, the demand for globally competitive returns will continue to exact more efficiency. And society generally will be looking to local mining companies to polish their image as responsible corporate citizens in the community and natural environment.
