Dissatisfied with the soft steel pitons used by other climbers, he taught himself blacksmithing and created a spike of chrome nickel steel so strong and light that it fundamentally changed the sport.

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His publicly-traded company, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) has interests in platinum, nickel, chrome, iron, manganese, coal, copper and gold.

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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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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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