南非：社会动荡，矿业遭殃

It's been a troubled year for African mining. Mining companies in South Africa lost hundreds of millions of dollars from disruption caused by unrest. The Marikana platinum mine was the scene of shootings which claimed 46 lives during strikes which halted production for more than a month. Last month, Anglo American Platinum revealed plans to mothball two South African mines, sell another and cut 14,000 jobs. Well, this week the world's biggest conference on African mining takes place in South Africa, with government ministers, CEOs of mine companies and investors gathering to talk. Joining me from Johannesburg is the BBC's correspondent Peter Biles.

"Peter, how much do you think this conference is gonna be dominated by that unrest in South Africa?"

"Lesley, this is certainly a critical time for South Africa. Mining has always been a mainstay of the South African economy. It employs around half a million workers and it accounts for 12% of South Africa's GDP. But the current atmosphere is very much one of uncertainty. Last year, 2012 was a very tough year. There were illegal strikes. There were job losses. There were mine closures. There was the Marikana tragedy. There was a fall in production. And investor confidence was severely shaken. The other day the chairman of Lonmin, Roger Phillimore was saying that the mining industry was at a crossroads. Now many mine workers feel there just hasn't been sufficient change in recent years."