David McKay writes that an audience poll at the Joburg Indaba conference earlier this month found that 53.4% of the several hundred those who attended thought mining industry CEOs were overpaid.  

Gold Field CEO Nick Holland, who has frequently been criticised for high salary and bonus payouts, said criticism was inevitable, but wrong-headed.  “You can never win this battle.  All you can do is rationalise how it is done.  But there will always be criticism”.  He believes dollar denominated peer group benchmarking and independent surveys are the correct way to go.  Chris Griffith, CEO of Anglo American Platinum, believes the key issue is about being transparent in how executive pay is measured rather than focusing on the absolute amount.  Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye Gold, commented:  “If we think that by reducing CEO incentives or remuneration that will change something then we are making a mistake.  We have to get the levels at the bottom raised up.”

• Read this report in full at Miningmx

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