Lonmin From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Type | Public company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mining |
| Founded | 1909 |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
| Key people | Roger Phillimore (Chairman) Ian Farmer (CEO) Mahomed Seedat (COO) |
| Products | Platinum Group Metals |
| Revenue | US$1,992 million (2011)[1] |
| Operating income | US$311 million (2011)[1] |
| Net income | US$321 million (2011)[1] |
| Employees | 27,800 (2011)[2] |
| Website | www.lonmin.com |
Lonmin plc (LSE: LMI, JSE: LOLMI), formerly Lonrho plc, is a producer of platinumgroup metals operating in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Its registered office is inLondon, and its operational headquarters are in Johannesburg, South Africa.[3]
The Company was incorporated in the United Kingdom on 13 May 1909 as the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company Limited.[4]
Businessman Tiny Rowland was recruited as chief executive in 1962.[5] For many years during the second half of the twentieth century it was frequently in the news, not only due to the politically-sensitive part of the world in which it had mining businesses, but also – as it strove to become a conglomerate not wholly dependent on these businesses – in a number of takeover battles, most notably for the Harrods of Knightsbridge department store.[5]
In 1968, Lonrho acquired Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, a gold mining business inGhana.[6] The former Conservative minister Duncan Sandys, a director of Ashanti, became Lonrho's chairman in 1972.[7]
During the 80s, Lonrho entered the British newspaper market, buying the Sunday newspaper The Observer in 1981[8] and the newly launched daily Today in 1986.[9] Today was sold to News International the following year,[10] while the Guardian Media Group bought the Observer in 1993.[8]
Sir Angus Ogilvy, married to a member of the British royal family (Princess Alexandra), was a Lonrho director and this increased media interest in the company's affairs. Ogilvy's career ended when Lonrho was involved in a sanctions-busting scandal concerning trade with Rhodesia. Prime Minister, Edward Heath, criticised the company, describing it in the House of Commons in 1973 as "an unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism."[11]
Tiny Rowland was finally ejected from Lonrho in October 1993 after a boardroom tussle with director Dieter Bock.[12]
Two months before Rowland's death (on 26 July 1998) the assets of Lonrho were demerged. Two publicly listed companies, Lonrho plc and Lonrho Africa plc were created – the former retaining all the non-African businesses and mining assets.[13] In 1999 Lonrho plc was renamed as Lonmin plc and a new era as a focused mining company began.[14] Since then it has divested itself of all non-core assets.
In late 2008 CEO Brad Mills announced his intention to resign from his position, and Lonmin indicated that former chief strategic officer responsible for the company’s business development, Ian Farmer, would replace him.[15] This could be viewed as a positive development, as Farmer has more experience in the platinum industry. Mills leaves behind a "significant contribution in developing the company over the past four years" according to chairperson, Sir John Craven, as his introduction of mechanized mining has increased safety for the miners, as well as increasing productivity.[16]
Mine "bloodbath" shocks post-apartheid S.Africa By Jon Herskovitz
Newspaper headlines screamed "Bloodbath", "Killing Field" and "Mine Slaughter", with graphic photographs of heavily armed white and black police officers walking casually past the bloodied corpses of black men lying crumpled in the dust.
The images, along with Reuters television footage of a phalanx of officers opening up with automatic weapons on a small group of men in blankets and t-shirts, rekindled uncomfortable memories of South Africa's racist past.
Police chief Riah Phiyega confirmed 34 dead and 78 injured after officers moved in against 3,000 striking drill operators armed with machetes and sticks and massed on a rocky outcrop at the mine, 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.
Phiyega, a former banking executive who was only appointed to lead the police force in June, said officers had acted in self-defence against charging, armed assailants at Lonmin's Marikana platinum plant.
"The police members had to employ force to protect themselves from the charging group," she told a news conference, noting that two policemen had been hacked to death by a mob at the mine on Tuesday.
However, the South African Institute of Race relations likened the incident to the 1960 Sharpeville township massacre near Johannesburg, when apartheid police opened fire on a crowd of black protesters, killing more than 50.
"Obviously the issues that have led to this are not the same as the past, but the response and the outcome is very similar," research manager Lucy Holborn told Reuters.
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