Our Company
Building a mining company for the long term.
Our Story
Africa's mineral wealth can be developed to international standard, by a company agile enough to move on opportunity and disciplined enough to do it properly.
We are privately held. That gives us a long time horizon, freedom from quarterly reporting pressure, and the ability to make decisions in days rather than quarters. It also means we answer directly for our conduct; there is no diffusion of responsibility in a company this size, and we regard that as a feature.
From our headquarters in Dubai we bring together international mining, engineering and finance expertise. Through our teams in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia we bring regional operating knowledge, established relationships with authorities and communities, and a practical understanding of what it takes to build and run a mine in Central and Southern Africa.
The combination is deliberate. Neither international expertise nor local knowledge is sufficient alone; the failures in this industry almost always occur where one has been substituted for the other.
Building for the long termVision
To become one of Africa's most respected mining companies, measured not by the tonnes we produce, but by the standard we hold ourselves to in producing them.
Mission
To discover, develop and produce mineral resources safely and responsibly, creating enduring value for our shareholders, our employees, our host governments, the communities around our operations, and our partners.
Our Values
Six values govern how we work
They are not aspirations; they are the basis on which we make decisions, and the basis on which we expect to be judged.
Safety
No output target, deadline or cost saving justifies putting a person at risk. Where safety and schedule conflict, safety wins, and anyone at Aframax has the authority to stop work they believe to be unsafe, without needing to justify it afterwards.
Integrity
We do not pay bribes and we do not tolerate facilitation payments, in any jurisdiction, in any amount, for any reason. Where a transaction cannot be conducted honestly, we withdraw from it. This has cost us opportunities and it will cost us more.
Excellence
We apply the same technical and operating standards we would apply anywhere in the world. Operating in a challenging jurisdiction is a reason to be more rigorous, never less.
Responsibility
We accept that mining changes places and affects people, and that the obligation this creates does not end when a license expires.
Partnership
We build relationships intended to outlast individual transactions, with governments, communities, employees, suppliers and customers alike. We keep the commitments we make, including the inconvenient ones.
Sustainability
We evaluate decisions against their long-term environmental, social and economic consequences, including those that will fall due long after the current management team has moved on.
Corporate Responsibility
Stronger businesses and stronger communities
Responsible mining creates stronger businesses as well as stronger communities. The two are not in tension; over the life of a mine they are the same thing.
Our commitments extend well beyond mineral production, to environmental stewardship, workforce development, local procurement and enterprise support, education and health initiatives, and durable partnerships with the communities around our operations.
The measure we hold ourselves to is simple: the places we operate in should be demonstrably better off for our having been there, in ways that persist after we have gone.