Mining production in South Africa rose 2.8 per cent year-on-year in February, driven mainly by platinum group metals (pgms).

According to new figures from Statistics South Africa, mining production grew 6.3 per cent last year, following negative growth of 6.6 per cent in 2009 and 5.6 per cent in 2008.

Figures for January were revised down from a 4.3 per cent year-on-year increase to 3.2 per cent.

Seasonally adjusted mining production increased by 0.7 per cent for the three months ended February 2011 when compared with the three months to the end of November 2010.

The main contributor to this increase were pgms, which contributed 1.9 percentage points.

Actual mining production rose by 5.1 per cent for the three months up to the end of February 2011 compared with the same period in 2010.

The seasonally adjusted value of mineral sales at current prices reflected an increase of 4.8 per cent for the three months to the end of January 2011 in comparison to the previous quarter.

Sales of iron ore, pgms and coal were the main drivers of this growth.

The actual value of mineral sales at current prices in the three months ended January increased by 30.3 per cent year-on-year. The main contributors to this increase were again iron ore, pgms and coal, as well as gold.

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Mining production up 2.8% in February (14/04/11) 

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