Mission statement:
"To build a sustainable, profitable and efficient mining and mineral processing company, with emphasis on mineral products required for the international steel industry and in the process to engage in ethical, and environmentally and socially responsible, methods."

Situated 40 km east of Rustenburg on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa's Northwest Province, is IFM's Bufflesfontein facility. IFM has retained the original name, 'Buffelsfontein', which translates as 'Buffalo Spring'.

At the initial planning stage, the total capital cost needed to deliver a cutting-edge integrated ferrochrome facility at Buffelsfontein was estimated at R1.6 billion. IFM's mission was to construct the world's lowest cost Ferrochrome production site, to initially produce 267,000 tons per annum (tpa) of ferrochrome, or 3.5 per cent of global supply.

Construction began in October 2005, just three years after the incorporation of IFM. The stringent project schedule saw the first ore extracted at Buffelsfontein as early as January 2006, with the beneficiation plant and the pelletising/sintering plant commissioned in January 2007. Furnace 1 came on line in January 2007 and furnace 2 followed in February 2007.

From the outset, IFM was determined that it would deliver a world-class project on time and within budget, whilst paying the utmost respect to the environment and to the needs of the local community.

The result is one of the world's most efficient, environmentally responsible and lowest-cost ferrochrome facilities, based on the latest closed furnace technology, advanced automation and process control systems.