Platinum-group metals are the catalyst to a better world and conditions within the platinum mining sector will improve, incoming Lonmin CEO Ben Magara tells Mining Weekly.

The current Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) executive head of engineering and strategy says the fundamentals of the platinum industry, which provides the resources for a multitude of modern products, are right and demand “would come again”, but collaboration with all stakeholders will be instrumental for industry growth.

Magara, whose “point of realisation” that the industry is more than “picks and shovels” came when he relocated a farm school and improved community relations while holding the position of production manager at the Banks colliery from 1996 until 2000, says stakeholders industrywide are increasingly expecting more than just digging.

He believes the mining industry needs to improve the way it relates to others, realise that mining is about people and proactively understand the environment around the operations to fix issues from the core – not just “quench the symptoms” of industry troubles.

Further, growth has to be geared towards achieving value, not just growing for the sake of growth, he adds.

“We need to trust one another more, give a little more, and feel the pain together,” while the industry returns to growth.“We are all in this together,” he comments.

The 45-year-old Zimbabwe national, who says he finds the platinum sector, and particularly South Africa’s Bushveld Complex, “fascinating”, will take the reins at London- and Johannesburg-listed Lonmin as of July 1.

He will succeed acting CEO Simon Scott, who will resume his role as CFO from July.

Lonmin chairperson Roger Phillimore says the appointment is aligned with the company’s renewal plan to define and achieve the initiatives to improve the working and living environment of its employees.

The world’s third-largest platinum producer experienced a turbulent 2012 as its Marikana mine in the North West province became the site of international scrutiny when more than 45 people died and many more were injured during labour unrest and a clash with police.

However, Lonmin is currently performing well and on track to recover – it reported producing 185 497 oz of platinum during the first quarter of the 2013 financial year.

Magara believes Lonmin has excellent assets, with values mirroring his own, and that he can contribute to the company’s success and make a difference.

Phillimore also notes that Lonmin’s safety record is “better than it has ever been” after the return to production following the violent labour unrest.

In January, the mining company reported that it had achieved 15-million fall-of-ground fatality-free shifts at its Marikana mine and six-million fatality-free shifts at its Karee shaft.

Magara, who achieved fatality-free tenures during all the positions he has held through- out his career, believes that if the safety of an operation is right, quality and production will improve, after which the costs will come down.

He adds that, with the right culture added in, growth will follow. It is key in a cycle he calls SQPCCG – safety, quality, production, cost, culture and growth.

Magara thrives on turnaround and growth rather than maintenance, which emerged as he took over other struggling assets and turned them around, including operations such as the New Denmark colliery, near Standerton, in Mpumalanga.

He kicked off his two-decades career at diversified giant Anglo American as a shift overseer and technical assistant at the New Denmark colliery in 1994. He worked at the mine again from 2002 to 2006 as GM and was named the Best Mine Manager of the Year by NOSA in 2003.

Magara, whose first entry into the mining industry was as a project engineer for the Union Carbide mine, in Mutorashanga, Zimbabwe, attributes his all-round solid and broad experience to his mentors’ different management styles and the opportunities afforded to him by Anglo American.

“For me, Tony Redman, John Wallington, Greg Pool and Mike Rutherford, among others, were instrumental in my development,” he tells Mining Weekly in an interview.

“There is no shortcut and results matter; I had a typical traditional mining career,” he says.

Magara, who moved from the rockface in the early days of his career in the early 1990s, where he went through “all the mining activities and earned a blasting certificate”, supervising crews of 10 to 15 as a miner and shift overseer, on to mine overseer, shaft manager, production manager, assistant manager, GM and then CEO of Anglo Coal South Africa in 2006, has extensive experience in community engagement, government relations, conflict resolution and organisational culture.

Under his current tenure as Amplats executive head of engineering and strategy, he pushed the Unki platinum mine to steady-state production one year ahead of schedule.

Throughout his career, he has held positions where he was proactively engaged with government and policymakers, culminating in Anglo Coal South Africa becoming the first business within the South African group to be awarded new-order mining rights in 2007.

This led to a 50% rise in growth as three new mines, namely Mafube, Isibonelo and Zibulo, were commissioned.

Magara has also initiated several community relationship, safety and production programmes throughout his career.