rises slightly while
mineral sales decrease
The latest mining production figures released by Statistics South Africa showed that the production of platinum group metals (PGMs) was the main contributor towards the three-month increase, contributing 1.8 percentage points.
The index of total mining production was 5.8% higher in February 2010 compared with February 2009. This increase in mining production year-on-year followed an increase of 9.7% in January 2010 and a decrease of 2.1% in December 2009. This is the second consecutive positive annual growth since December 2009
Statistics South Africa went on to reveal that main contributors to the 3% decrease in the estimated total value of mineral sales at current prices for the three months ended January 2010 were: coal (contributing -5.1 percentage points or -R3 112.2 million), iron ore (contributing -3.2 percentage points or -R1 925.0 million), manganese ore (contributing -1.8 percentage points or -R1 077.0 million) and other non-metallic minerals (contributing -1.2 percentage points or -R724.9 million).
The total seasonally adjusted value of mineral sales at current prices for the three months ended January 2010 reflected an increase of 7.7% compared with the previous three months. This was mainly due to increases in the sales value of PGMs contributing 7.0 percentage points or R4 013.3 million; coal contributing 2.6 percentage points or R1 497.1 million; and manganese ore contributing 1.7 percentage points or R1 0048 million.