Sir John Craven, chairman of Lonmin, the platinum miner, betrays grudging admiration for Mick Davis, chief executive of diversified mining group Xstrata, which this month made a hostile £5bn takeover approach for his company.

“Mick Davis is a very clever man. He has very cleverly put a bid on the table reflecting a movement of metals prices generally, but we are in a different niche and it is a very good niche.”