Mine men can be good sports

Looking at the 7700 delegates at this week's mining indaba, one found a lot of experience - not all of it only in mining.

Manning a stand - after standing his man in 116 rugby Tests for the Wallabies - was Nathan Sharpe. The retired 2m-tall lock was upbeat about the conference and said his roots had always been in mining.

Nick Farr-Jones, Wallaby captain in the 1991 World Cup, was also at the Cape Town Convention Centre. Farr-Jones played 63 Tests for Australia between 1985 and 1993. He was also a director of the JSE-listed miner Central Rand Gold.

Legendary former Springbok captain Gary Teichmann, involved in the construction business, was at the indaba - as was his old team-mate Adrian Garvey.

Teichmann played 42 games for the Springboks and 144 for the Sharks. Garvey had 10 caps for Zimbabwe before playing for the Sharks. He was a prop in 28 Tests for the Springboks.

Registration for the mining indaba cost $1800 (about R16200) .

Delegates came from 100 countries. According to the organisers, 57% were from Africa, 5% from Asia, 18% from Europe, 12% from Australia and the rest from the Americas.