After a protracted period of consolidation, cost reduction initiatives and suspended dividends, the global mining sector is today in far better shape than it was during the years that followed the 2008/9 financial crisis and the subsequent commodities crash, notes Herbert Smith Freehills South Africa director Patrick Leyden. “Global mining revenue has increased 8% year-on-year with shareholder returns up 38% on previous years,” he comments, adding that the JSE/FTSE Africa Mining Index is the highest it has been since 2008. “. . . globally, the mining industry is in a better place than it has been in the last decade.”
