IF SOUTH Africa's mining industry needs a good news story during one of its most uncertain periods, it will probably be the soft-spoken Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, chairperson of Kalahari Minerals.

Her strategy to mine manganese and have it processed locally is so uncomplicated, yet brilliantly considered, and in tune with every transformation imperative South Africa needs, that one inadvertently wonders why others so often feel the need to create a fuss.