Their family, which made its fortune from nickel mining, has a long tradition of politics and public service.

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Kreddha has been involved in mediation work in the Niger Delta, and in New Caledonia between a mining corporation, Goro Nickel, and an indigenous environmental organisation called Rheebu Nuu.

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Patrice Motsepe is the Chairman of African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), a publicly-traded mining conglomerate which has interests in platinum, nickel, chrome, iron, manganese, coal, copper and gold.

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And record world nickel prices, coupled with a successful joint venture with Sherritt International, a Canadian mining company, mean that Cuba's other chief export also brings in a hefty chunk.

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Vice chairman of Taganito Mining Corp. and a business associate of Zamora family, holds stake in Nickel Asia.

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That was the year the government was formulating a draft mining charter, proposing that companies be at least 26% black-owned in order to get a government mining license. (The draft became law in 2005.) Since then Motsepe has diversified, swallowing up or forming partnerships with several other old mining companies and adding a swath of minerals: precious metals (platinum and its cousins), nickel, chrome, iron, manganese and coal.

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Vale is the second-largest mining company in the world that produces a wide range of metals, the largest being iron ore and nickel.

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