Mr Samson Gwede Mantashe was born on the 21st of June 1955 in the village of Lower Cala in the then Transkei (now Eastern Cape Province). He cut his teeth as an activist in the Student Christian Movement (SCM). Minister Mantashe received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 1997, where he also completed a Bachelor of Commerce Honours in 2002. He holds a Masters’ degree from the University of Witwatersrand (WITS), acquired in 2008. He is currently studying for his Masters’ in Business Administration through MANCOSA. In 1975 he was employed as the Recreation Officer at the Western Deep Levels mine and, in the same year, moved to Prieska Copper Mines where he served as the Welfare Officer until 1982. Working at the Matla Colliery in 1982, Mr Mantashe co-founded and became the Witbank branch chairperson of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), a position he held until 1984. In 1985, he was elected as the NUM Regional Secretary. A skilled mineworker and leader, Mr Mantashe served as the NUM’s National Organiser from 1988 to 1993; and became the Regional Coordinator between 1993 and 1994. From 1994 to 1998, Mr Mantashe served as the Assistant General Secretary of the NUM, whereupon he was elected as the first worker General Secretary at the union’s congress in 1998.

For his first stint in government, Mr Mantashe was elected Councillor in the Ekurhuleni Municipality in 1995 where he served until 1999. In 1995, he became the first trade unionist to be appointed to the Board of Directors of a Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed company, namely, Samancor. In May 2006, he relinquished his position as the General Secretary of the NUM at the union’s 12th National Congress. In the same year, Mr Mantashe was appointed as the Executive Director at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) where, for a period of two years, he served as the Chairperson of the Technical Working Group of the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA). In 2007, Mr Mantashe was elected as the Chairperson of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and also served as a member of the Party’s Central Committee. In December 2007, he was elected as the Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) at the party’s 52nd National Conference. He was re-elected to the same position in 2012. At the ANC’s 54th National Conference, in 2017, Mr Mantashe was elected as the National Chairperson. Mr Mantashe was appointed Minister of Mineral Resources in February 2018. Following the 6th democratic elections in 2019, and with the expansion of the Ministry to include Energy, he was appointed as the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy in May 2019 where he currently serves.

Mr Baxter was appointed CEO of the Minerals Council in 2015. He has 28 years of high-level advocacy and strategy experience in the business and mining sectors. He was involved in the first mineral policy discussions with the ANC in 1992 and has participated (and often led) discussions on all aspects of mining, economic, investment, transformation and tax policy with government.  He previously chaired BUSA’s Econpol and Growth Task Team. He has played a key leadership role in rejuvenating the brand of the Minerals Council and brings material leadership, governance, strategy, investment and transformation skills to the table. He is a member of the Minerals Council Board, the BUSA Board, the TEBA Trust Board and he chairs the World Platinum Investment Council. He is vice-Chairman of the international Associations Working Group and vice-Chairman of the Mining Industry Association of Southern Africa (MIASA). He was recently awarded the SAIMM Brigadier Stokes platinum medal for his contribution to the South African mining sector.

As Unki Mines (Private) Limited’s CFO, Colin Chibafa does more than just balance the books; he is also responsible for the management of the company’s key external relations with government. This has entailed negotiating and securing the company’s mining licence, sale contracts and funding agreements. A key learning to date has been that doing business in Zimbabwe is not for the faint hearted or the impatient. Colin is a Chartered Accountant and has been with Anglo American since 2001. He has held various roles in finance, business development and corporate finance. 

Marna Cloete is a registered Chartered Accountant and holds a Master’s Degree in Taxation from the University of Pretoria. In 2006, Marna joined Ivanhoe Mines, and in 2009 she was promoted to Chief Financial Officer and to President in 2020. Marna played an instrumental role as part of the Ivanhoe leadership team, achieving a number of strategic milestones as well as listing the Company on the TSX and concluding multiple strategic partnerships and financings with inter alia a Japanese consortium led by Itochu, Zijin Mining and CITIC Metal. She also serves on the Board of Centamin plc as an independent non-executive director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee. Prior to joining Ivanhoe, Marna forged her career at PwC in 2002, in the Metals and Mining division, subsequently moving on to Group Five Construction.

After lecturing tax law and company law, Sandra qualified as an attorney, focusing on mergers and acquisitions. In the boutique firms in which she practiced, she advised clients across the full spectrum of transaction requirements, including due diligence, drafting and negotiating agreements, preparing and defending regulatory applications and managing post-implementation issues. She transitioned from law into Corporate Finance at Standard Bank, becoming the Head: Mining & Metals, and focusing on complex transactions incorporating multiple investment banking products, including advisory, equity capital markets, debt capital markets and lending. Sandra joined EY in 2020 as a Partner and the Lead for M&A Advisory in Africa, where she advises clients in a range of industries on transaction.

In July 2018, Kevin co-founded AP Ventures. AP Ventures is an independent venture capital fund investing in companies whose innovation is made possible by the unique properties of Platinum Group Metals. AP Ventures is proud to have three world class institutions as committed investors, namely; Anglo American Platinum, the Public Investment Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation.
Prior to this, Kevin was with Anglo American for 10 years where he held senior positions in Finance and Corporate Finance and has extensive experience across Europe, South Africa and the USA.
Kevin is a UCT alumni and South African qualified Chartered Accountant. He lives in South West London with his wife and daughter.

Stephen Forrest, one of the PGM industry’s foremost authorities, known universally for his value-chain-spanning expertise, has spent a career working with a portfolio of major commodity companies and clients, in more recent years becoming the analytical link between producer and end-user, processor and investor, as part of SFA (Oxford), the leading PGM consultancy he set up in 2001.

Stephen’s industry track record is significant, not least for the many facets it encompasses, having worked as a Commodities Strategist, Fund Manager and Operations Manager, risen to the highest levels of mining management, conducted trade finance and capital-raising exercises in the Eastern Bloc and Western world, and accomplished Top Rating as a Mining Analyst covering platinum-group metals, base metal and coal markets. Through this multifaceted history, he has built up an exclusive network of contacts that transcends individual industrial sectors and value chain linkages, placing him in a unique position to provide crosscommodity expertise to a trusting client base.

Leveraging off this vast relationship set, in 2001 he founded SFA (Oxford), an independent consultancy covering a broad spectrum of mining-, minerals- and commodity-related issues, including macroeconomic analysis, supply and demand scenarios, in-depth cost analysis, derivative research and price forecasting. He has since led SFA towards becoming the industry standard in commodity research, managing the mapping of the entire PGM value chain, assisting company clients in more than $5 billion in strategic transactions, and offering otherwise unobtainable insights into the PGM and other commodity industries.

Neal Froneman was appointed executive director and CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater on 1 January 2013. Over the past five years he has led the transformation of Sibanye-Stillwater from a 1.5Moz South African-based gold producer into a leading precious metals miner with an international operating footprint ranking among the world’s top three PGM producers. His career spans more than 30 years during which time he worked at Gold Fields of South Africa Limited, Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (Harmony) and JCI Limited. In April 2003, Neal was appointed CEO of Aflease Gold Limited (Aflease Gold), which, through a series of reverse take-overs, became Gold One International Limited (Gold One) in May 2009. He was primarily responsible for the creation of Uranium One Incorporated (Uranium One) from the Aflease Gold uranium assets. During this period, he was CEO of Aflease Gold and Uranium One until his resignation from Uranium One in February 2008. He held the CEO position at Gold One until his appointment at Sibanye-Stillwater. In May 2016, he was elected to serve as a Vice President of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa (now the Minerals Council South Africa).

Bernhard Fuchs joined Degussa’s precious metals business in 1999, after having worked as a banker and lawyer (Dr. in law). Following his assignment as assistant to the CEO, he was in 2002 appointed as CFO of Allgemeine Gold- und Silberscheideanstalt AG. In 2009 he moved to China as President Umicore Greater China, overseeing the growth of the group in precious metals as well as other specialty metals. Since 2014 he has been responsible for Umicore’s global Precious Metals Management as well as for the global sales organization of the Umicore group. He also serves as Chairman of Umicore AG, Umicore’s largest entity in Germany with 1.000 employees at three sites. He is a board member of the International Platinum Association (IPA), as well as of the German Precious Metals Federation.

Evy Hambro, Managing Director, is the Global Head of Thematic and Sector Based Investing for BlackRock Active Equities and head of the London-based Natural Resources equity team. He co-manages the BGF World Gold, BlackRock Gold & General and BGF World Mining funds. He is also co-manager of the BlackRock World Mining Trust, BlackRock Natural Resources Hedge Fund and manager of a number of segregated portfolios.  Mr Hambro's service with the firm dates back to 1994 including his years with Mercury Asset Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) which merged with BlackRock in 2006. He has worked for the firm in London, Sydney and Toronto.  Mr Hambro earned a BSc degree, with honors, in Agricultural Food Marketing, from Newcastle University in 1994.

Fungai has almost 18 years’ experience in the mining industry, having joined ZIMASCO in 2002 after completing his training with Deloitte and Touché. Fungai joined ZIMASCO as  an Internal Audit Manager and worked in various capacities until being appointed as Finance Executive for Mimosa in October 2004 and in April 2005 his role was combined with that of Company Secretary.  He was subsequently appointed General Manager Finance and Administration in October 2007, a position he held until his appointment to the position of Managing Director on 1^st May 2013. Fungai sits on the Board of FBC Bank Limited as a non-executive Director. He is also a non-executive Director on the Board of Cell Insurance Holdings and chairs the Audit and Compliance committee of that company.

Henrik Marx is currently heading up global precious metals trading at Heraeus with four sites in Germany, New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai. He has been working with Heraeus and in the precious metals industry for over 15 years. He went through various roles starting in recycling through to sales and business development. From 2015 to 2018, he headed up the Heraeus business in Hong Kong as the General Manager, followed by two years in Switzerland at Argor-Heraeus where he was in charge of the investment products department as Director of Sales. Since June 2020, he has been the CEO of Heraeus Metals Germany overlooking the global trading activities for the business.

Alex joined the Group as Chief Executive Officer on 1 October 2007, having formerly been the managing director of a Zimbabwean PGMs producer. He is the chairman of the operating subsidiary, Zimbabwe Platinum Mines (Private) Limited.

Thando Mkatshana has over 30 years’ experience in the mining industry. His career started with Anglo American Coal in 1988, where he gained extensive production experience at various collieries. He joined Xstrata Coal South Africa (Pty) Ltd in 2003, where he was responsible for the development from feasibility to implementation of the Goedgevonden Colliery (a flagship greenfield project and joint venture between ARM Coal (Pty) Ltd and what is now Glencore Operations South Africa (Pty) Ltd). Thando worked for Kalagadi Manganese (Pty) Ltd and ArcelorMittal South Africa Limited before joining ARM in 2011 as Executive: Coal Operations. He was appointed Chief Executive: ARM Coal in 2012 and assumed additional responsibilities as Chief Executive: ARM Copper in 2015. In February 2017, Thando was appointed Chief Executive: ARM Platinum.

Prakashim is a project management and sustainability professional with more than 27 years’ experience across the defence, power generation and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturing and mining sectors.

Prior to joining Anglo American Platinum, he worked at ABInBev Africa as the Africa Zone Projects Manager responsible for leading a large, multi-disciplinary team which focused on the development and execution of projects supporting capacity, capability and continuity across Africa. Prior to that, he worked for companies such as SABMiller, Eskom and Armscor, where he strategically led and successfully delivered large-scale projects, both locally and internationally. Over his career Prakashim has focused on bringing key environmental and sustainable development aspects into the delivery of projects. In his present role, he leads a multidisciplinary team that ensures delivering on the demand for minerals and metals, which is executed in a safe and efficient manner to ensure the optimal and sustainable use of land, energy and water in a fully integrated manner with all stakeholders. Key deliverables include the mapping and execution of renewable energy options and energy efficiency projects on the pathway to zero carbon emissions. Prakashim has a BSc (Chemical Engineering) from University of Natal, Durban, South Africa and has completed the Executive Development Programme through Columbia University, New York, USA.

Paul Moschella has 38 years of experience in the precious metals business. He started his career in 1982 working on the commodity exchange floor (COMEX), before assuming the role as the senior gold dealer in the J Aron division of Goldman Sachs.  He joined Engelhard Corporation in 1996 as a senior PGM trader in Iselin, NJ.  His main responsibility was managing Engelhard's global PGM price risk and hedge book.  After BASF's acquisition of Engelhard in 2007, he took on the additional responsibility of managing BASF's producer supply contracts.  He was named the Director of Precious Metals Supply in 2010 with responsibilities that include managing BASF's global supply chain, precious metals supply contracts, exchange arbitrage positions and strategic metals positions. Paul holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  He currently resides in New Jersey with his wife, Claudine, and three children.  When he is not working at BASF he can be found on a nearby tennis court

Nico Muller holds a BSc Mining Engineering degree from the University of Pretoria and has a 28-year mining career across a range of commodities, including platinum. He has a proven track record as a successful operator and is a highly-rated leader and strategic thinker. Nico was appointed to the board of Implats as both Chief Executive Officer and an Executive Director in April 2017. Prior to this he served as Executive Vice-President of Gold Fields’ South African operations (South Deep) for three years, where he fulfilled a pivotal role in re-energising and repositioning the mine for a sustainable future. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer at Royal Bafokeng Platinum, and in various other high-level positions at Anglovaal, African Rainbow Minerals, Avgold and De Beers.

Benny Oeyen is from Belgium but was born and grew up in Germany.  He has worked and lived in Belgium, the USA, Switzerland, Germany, China and now the UK.  He has a Masters’ Degree in Economics from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.  He has 28 years of global automotive experience.  He worked for Mazda Motors European HQ in Brussels as their European Product Manager. Benny was with DaimlerChrysler as a Senior Product Manager at their European HQ, as a Senior Manager, Product Strategy at their World HQ in Detroit, USA, and finally as Managing Director in Zurich, Switzerland.  He has also worked for Hyundai Kia as their Chief Marketing Officer for Europe in Frankfurt, Germany and at General Motors China as their Vice President, Product Strategy in Shanghai.  Since Nov 2017 he has been the Executive Head, Market Development for Anglo American in London.  

Fiona Perrott-Humphrey is an independent senior adviser to Rothschild & Co’s Mining Team. Her focus is on the constantly changing trends in the sector which impact on both corporate strategy issues as well as on the communication process between companies and their shareholders. She believes that current developments underway in new technologies and ESG issues are reflecting in some of the most seismic shifts in investor perceptions of the sector in decades. 

Hanré Rossouw has served as Chief Financial Officer of Royal Bafokeng Platinum Limited since October 2018. Previously, he was a Portfolio Manager at Investec Asset Management covering precious metals and South African resource equities. Prior to that, Hanré was the Chief Financial Officer of Xstrata Alloys overseeing Xstrata plc’s chrome and platinum interests in South Africa. He joined Xstrata in 2004, and also held other senior roles in strategy, mergers and acquisitions and investor relations in London as part of the core team that built Xstrata into a global diversified mining company, subsequently acquired by Glencore in 2013. His mining career started as a graduate engineer at Anglo American plc (with experience at AngloGold and AngloCoal). Hanré later worked for De Beers and Accenture. Hanré graduated from Oxford University with a Master’s degree in Business Administration. He also holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) degree in Economics.

Andries is PwC’s Africa Energy, Utilities and Resources leader and an experienced JSE accredited audit partner. He has been with the firm since 1997 and partner since 2007. He has experience in numerous stock exchange transactions, including IPOs, fund raisings, and reporting accountant work for acquisitions. He has a specific focus on mining clients across commodities and mining methods. Andries is the project leader for the firm’s SA Mine and Global Mine publications which gives him excellent insight into industry wide issues.  Although he has a specific focus on mining and construction clients, Andries also has a variety of cross industry exposure with previous involvements in retail, manufacturing, forestry, agriculture, banking and insurance clients. His core industries has given him the opportunity to work with cross border teams on a regular basis. 

Sifiso Sibiya, Group Executive: Refining and Marketing, holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering, a Graduate Diploma in Industrial Engineering, a programme in Manager Development and a MBA. His career started at Impala Refineries in 1996 when he was appointed as a Process Assistant in the Base Metals Laboratory. Since then, he has progressed from junior roles to executive roles in projects, production, sales and commercial fields. Sifiso currently holds the role of Group Executive: Refining and Marketing where he is responsible for group refining and sales of base and precious metals. Additionally, he serves as a Director on several boards and is the Chairman of Impala Platinum Japan.

Heidi’s mining career spans more than 15 years across various areas of the sector from exploration, geology and mining through to equity and sector strategy research. She graduated with an Honours degree in Geology at The University of Port Elizabeth, after which she worked for Anglo Gold Ashanti.  She rose through the ranks working as a Mineral Project Analyst for top consulting firms while completing a Graduate Diploma in Engineering, specializing in Mineral Economics at the University of the Witwatersrand. Heidi then moved on to work for top asset management companies such as Nedbank Capital (until 2011) and SBG Securities as a Diversified Mining Analyst until 2016.  She is currently a Sector Specialist: Mining, Beneficiation and Energy in the Research and Projects Development team at the Public Investment Corporation.

Richard Stewart has 20 years’ experience in South Africa’s geological and mining industries, is a Fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa and is a Registered Natural Scientist. Prior to joining Sibanye-Stillwater in 2014, he served on the Gold One Executive Committee, from 2009 to 2014, in both Technical and Business Development related roles. Richard was also the CEO of JSE listed Goliath Gold Limited, from 2013 to 2014. Prior to that he was an Investment Consultant for the Private Equity Group, African Global Capital Proprietary Limited and held management positions at Uranium One and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Mining Technology division.  He was a co-founding member and director of Shango Solutions, a geological consultancy firm. 

Wilma Swarts joined Metals Focus as Director of PGM Research in April 2020. Prior to this she headed the commercial services and marketing functions at Lonmin Plc. Prior to joining the mining sector, she worked in the automotive industry. She holds a M.Sc. in International Business Administration from the University of London and an honours degree from the University of Johannesburg.

Emma joined Implats in February 2019 and provides support across a number of group functions including marketing and commercial, investor relations and strategy. She joined Implats after an 18-year career as an equity analyst at a number of domestic and international banks, where she was involved in commodity and equity research on precious metals and producers, with a particular focus on PGMs.

Natascha has served as Anglo American Platinum’s CEO since April 2020, also sitting on the Anglo American Platinum Board and the Group Management Committee of Anglo American plc. Prior to that, she spent five years as Group Head of Processing for Anglo American. Natascha is a seasoned senior executive, bringing 28 years of operational experience from across the mining industry, spanning many different countries, metals and minerals including, of course, the PGMs.

Viljoen's operational executive experience also includes six years at Lonmin, where her last post was Executive Vice President of Processing. Viljoen holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from North-West University, in South Africa, and an Executive Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Cape Town.

Paul joined the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) from Bain & Company, the global management consultancy, where he led the firm’s UK financial practice. Paul is an investment and wealth management specialist who has enjoyed considerable involvement in the broad financial services sector over the last 25 years. He has also been deeply involved in the precious metals market. While at Bain & Company, Paul helped raise the investment attractiveness of gold by leading the development of the gold market’s first and largest Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). Alongside his role at WPIC, Paul is a Non-Executive Director of AXA XL UK and Ireland insurance businesses, a group board independent director at Unigestion Holdings SA and Chair of their UK business. Paul is also Chairman of Action Against Hunger (UK), a global charity.