Falling production of platinum group metals (pgms) was the main contributor to a 5.4 per cent year-on-year drop in South African mining production in September, according to new figures.

In the three months to the end of September, total output from the country's mines slipped by 5.1 per cent from the preceding quarter, Statistics South Africa revealed today (November 10th).

The main contributor to the decrease was pgms -  which account for 1.8 percentage points.

Actual mining production was 4.8 per cent lower in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of 2010.

However, the actual value of mineral sales at current prices for the three months to the end of August 2011 increased by 17.4 per cent year-on-year.

Despite their fall in output, pgms contributed 2.2 percentage points to this gain.

Source:

Mine output down 5.4% (10/11/11) 

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