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The mining industry gets together to discuss the challenges ahead, the foremost being, when will the seemingly relentless fall in commodity prices come to an end?

And what can be done to make mines in Africa more profitable - and protect millions of vital jobs - in the meantime?

Those are two of the key questions that will be addressed in Cape Town on Monday, at the start of the one of the mining industry's biggest annual get-togethers.

The four-day Mining Indaba has rarely been held against a gloomier backdrop for the industry.

Picture credit: AFP

Many global mining giants are now under huge financial pressure, and tens of thousands of jobs have already been lost.