According to MiningWeekly, data from Statistics South Africa (SSA) show that in October, the country’s mining production rose by 1.4% year-on-year, with platinum group metals, chromite, diamonds, and coal making the largest contributions.

In October, these industries grew by 3.3%, 14%, 27.9%, and 1.8% respectively, contributing between 0.4 and 1 percentage point to the mining sector. However, iron ore production declined by 6.4%, and gold mining output fell by 3.4%, dragging down the overall contribution by 3.4 and 0.5 percentage points, respectively.

Seasonally adjusted mining production fell by 3% month-on-month. In September and August, the declines were 4.5% and 3.3%, respectively. For the three months ending October 31 (August–October), seasonally adjusted mining production rose by 4% month-on-month, with platinum group metals increasing by 8.5% and contributing 2.6 percentage points, iron ore rising by 3.1% and contributing 0.4 percentage points, and “other” metal minerals surging by 17% and contributing 0.4 percentage points. At current prices, mining product sales in October increased by 1.6%. The largest contributor was coal, which rose by 10.3% and contributed 2.5 percentage points. Gold sales increased by 4.1%, contributing 0.9 percentage points.

Sales of “other” metallic minerals rose by 28.9%, contributing 0.6 percentage points. Chrome ore increased by 7.4%, adding 0.5 percentage points. By contrast, iron ore sales declined by 30% in October, dragging down the overall figure by 3.1 percentage points.

In October, seasonally adjusted sales of mineral products rose by 3.7% month-on-month. In September, they had increased by 16.7%, while in August they had fallen by 21.7%. For the three months ending October 31, sales of mineral products, calculated at current prices, declined by 7.2% month-on-month.

Hugo Pienaar, chief economist at the Minerals Council of South Africa, said that in October, certain special factors in the iron ore and manganese industries had an impact on overall mining production.

Although this quarter got off to a slow start, the robust growth in August and September suggests that even if mining production continues at October’s growth rate for the remainder of the fourth quarter, output will still remain relatively high. While it can’t exactly be described as strong growth, the full-year growth rate for 2024 could well be the highest since 2021.

If power supply remains uninterrupted and South Africa’s national railway company (Transnet) continues to perform well, South Africa’s mining industry will experience moderate growth in 2025. The primary challenges facing South Africa’s mining industry include global macroeconomic instability, particularly trade tensions arising from political changes in the United States in the coming year.