1. Dirty diggers.
- Subjects
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MINERAL industries , *MINES & mineral resources , *MINING corporations , *INTERNATIONAL business enterprises , *INVESTORS , *STOCKS (Finance) , *DIAMONDS , *GOLD mining , *NONFERROUS metal industries - Abstract
South Africa's cricket team was officially named the world's best this week, to great fury in Australia whose team had just suffered an embarrassing loss to England. Rugby matches, surfing competitions and the world barbecue (or braai) championships are always hot-headed affairs. But nothing gets southern-hemisphere blood boiling more than gold, diamonds and other minerals. A year ago, South Africa's AngloGold fought and lost a long battle to control Normandy, an Australian gold-mining company. In July 2002, Brian Gilbertson, a cocky former rocket scientist, and a South African, took the helm at BHP Billiton, a multinational mining firm based in Australia. At Billiton, a firm created by Gencor as a vehicle for international expansion which he ran from 1997, he first oversaw what was viewed as a daring expansion into aluminium smelting.
- Published
- 2003