By Thebe Mabanga
The rally in the price of gold, which saw the metal hit $ 4000/ oz, has boosted mineral sales for August, but could not mask the decline in production in gold, platinum group metals (PGM), and manganese, while coal was the commodity with the highest production growth.
On Tuesday, Statistics South Africa reported that mineral sales at current prices increased by 23,3% year-on-year in August 2025, with gold surging by 471,5% and contributing 17,9 percentage points, and PGMs rising 44,1% and contributing 9,5 percentage points.
A drag on mineral sales came from manganese ore, which fell 24,7% and contributed -2,3 percentage points, and iron ore, which dipped by 14,0% and contributed -2,1 percentage points.
The sales performance could not mask overall decline, as Stats SA reported that mining production decreased by 0,2% in August 2025 compared to August last year.
The decrease was due to a fall in PGMs, which fell 3 % and contributed 0,9% of a percentage point, followed by gold, which fell by 3,6 % and shaved of –0,4 of a percentage point, and manganese ore, which fell 3,4% contributing –0,3 of a percentage.
Coal was the only bright spot in production, increasing by 4,1% and contributing 0,8 of a percentage point.
Discovery Alert, a website that tracks metal discoveries for investors, points to several challenges across the gold, platinum, and manganese sectors in South Africa.
For gold, challenges include ageing infrastructure at several major mines, rising production costs, declining ore grades in established mines, as well as labour challenges at key production sites.
For PGMs, the website cites operational efficiency challenges at several major mines, global market price fluctuations, ongoing restructuring efforts by major producers, and technical difficulties at processing facilities.
Lastly, manganese challenges range from logistical challenges affecting ore transportation, with facilities like Transnet rail and port only showing improvement in the past year, maintenance activities at key production facilities, market demand fluctuations as well as operational adjustments at major manganese mines.
Taken on a seasonally adjusted basis, which considers seasonal factors such as holiday seasons as well as administered prices and wage adjustments, mining production fell by 1,2% in August this year compared to July and rose 3,3 % in the quarter to August, compared to the preceding quarter.
Again, on a seasonally adjusted basis, mineral sales fell by 2,9% in August compared to July and rose by 4,7% on the quarter to August compared to the quarter before.
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