South Africa Mining Activity Rises Faster in April

Mining production in South Africa climbed by 8.2% year-on-year in April 2026, following a 2.5% rise in the prior month, mainly due to a weak base of comparison. This marked the fifth consecutive month of growth in mining activity, largely supported by PGMs (+36.5%), manganese ore (+19%) and chromium ore (+17.5%). By contrast, output declined for coal (-5.8%); copper (-13.1%), other metallic minerals (-16%); diamonds (-17.1%) and other non-metallic minerals (-4.8%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining output rose by 3.3%, after a downwardly revised 4.8% decline in the preceding month. Mining production increased by 2.4% in the three months ended April 2026 compared with the previous three months.

Mining production in South Africa rose by 2.5% year-on-year in March 2026, following a 9.7% jump in the prior month and below market forecasts of a 4.1% advance. This marked the slowest mining growth in the current four-month stretch, with activity easing across key segments including PGMs (10.5% vs 52.3% in February), manganese ore (14.4% vs 27.8%) and nickel (10.5% vs 29.6%). Moreover, production fell for copper (-35.8% vs -42.7%); other non-metallic minerals (-16.8% vs -13.2%); coal (-9.6% vs -6.7%); other metallic minerals (-9.5% vs -0.1%); diamonds (-8.5% vs 13.1%) and iron ore (-2.7% vs -12.3%). Conversely, gold output picked up (17.1% vs 12.8%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining production slipped by 5.1%, after an upwardly revised 3% rise in the prior month. Mining output increased by 0.6% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the fourth quarter of 2025.

Mining production in South Africa surged by 9.7% year-on-year in February 2026, following an upwardly revised 5% rise in the prior month. This marked the strongest pace of growth in mining activity since February 2024, mainly driven by favorable base effects from a weak comparison base. Notable increases were seen for PGMs (+52.3%); chromium ore (+26.9%) manganese ore (+17.8%) and gold (+12.8%). On the other hand, iron ore (-12.4%) and coal (-6.7%) were the largest negative contributors. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining production rose by 2.3%, after an upwardly revised 3.7% advance in the previous month. Seasonally adjusted mining production shrank by 1.7% in the three months ended February 2026 compared with the previous three months.