The aim of Implats' $800 million sale of a 27.1 per cent interest in Lonmin is to form a sustainable, flagship mining group that includes a broad-based black African interest, Lonmin consultant Brian Gilbertson said yesterday (September 29th).

Speaking at the opening of the International Mineral Processing Congress he said the aim was to provide an 'empowerment vehicle' for blacks, in a move similar to that made by Anglo American in 1963 to provide for the empowerment of Afrikaners.

The company, he said, would make money from inception, and would fund its own expansion programme until 2008.

Lonmin and Implats would provide $115.5 million each, while empowerment solutions would augment the total.

The next goal is the bringing together of an executive team, and the charter's aims provide for the sale of a 15 per cent stake to empowerment groups within five years and 26 per cent within ten.