South Africa Mining Activity Surprises on the Upside

Mining production in South Africa climbed by 4.6% year-on-year in January 2026, following an upwardly revised 2.8% rise in the prior month. Platinum group metals (+10.8%, adding 2.7 points), chromium ore (+37.3%, +1.8 points), and manganese ore (+12.5%, +1.0 point) were the main positive contributors. Gold (0.7%) and diamonds (4.2%) also registered increases. Conversely, output declined significantly for copper (-21.7%); other non-metallic minerals (-21.7%); nickel (-4.3%) and building materials (-4.1%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining production rose by 2.9%, the most since May 2025, after an upwardly revised 1.6% drop in the previous month.

Mining production in South Africa rose by 2.5% year-on-year in December 2025, following a downwardly revised 2.4% slump in the prior month, with manganese ore (40.4% vs 16.7%) and iron ore (19% vs -7.6%) contributing the most. Output also increased significantly for other metallic minerals (27.3% vs 14.9%), nickel (26.6% vs 3.2%); chromium ore (15.5% vs 0.3%) and other non-metallic minerals (10.4% vs -3.3%). On the other hand, decreases were seen for diamonds (-35.8%), PGMs (-7.7%), coal (-5.7%) and copper (-1.5%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining production fell by 1.2%, after a downwardly revised 5.7% decline in the previous month. Total mining production was 0.1% higher in 2025 compared with 2024.

Mining production in South Africa shrank by 2.7% over a year ago in November 2025, following an upwardly revised 6.1% rise in the prior month and defying market forecasts of a 3.9% advance. This was the first decline in mining activity since April last year. The biggest drags were coal (-7.9%, -2.1 points), iron ore (-7.6%, -1.1 points), PGMs (-2.8%, -0.8 points), and gold (-6.0%, -0.5 points). By contrast, output increased markedly for diamonds (27.9%, +0.4 points), manganese ore (17%, +0.3 points) and other metallic minerals (14.9%, +1.1 points). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining production plunged by 5.9% in November, after an upwardly revised 2.7% rise in the previous month. Seasonally adjusted mining production increased by 1.6% in the three months ended November 2025 compared with the previous three months.