South African mining production rose 12.2% year on year in December after a slight downwardly revised 9.5% (9.6%) rise in November, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday.
On an annualised basis, mining production returned to positive growth and averaged 6.5% in 2010 compared with -6.6% recorded in 2009 and -5.6% in 2008.
Mining production only recorded negative growth in May 2010 while the rest of the months saw positive growth.
Seasonally adjusted mining production increased by 3.9% for the fourth quarter of 2010 compared with the third quarter. All 12 mineral groups and minerals contributed positively to the 3.9% increase.
Platinum group metals (PGMs) and coal were the main contributors with a 0.8 percentage point contribution each, Stats SA reported.
Actual total mining production rose by 9.5% for the fourth quarter of 2010 compared with same period in 2009.
Stats SA figures showed that the seasonally adjusted value of mineral sales at current prices for the three months ended November 2010 reflected an increase of 6.6% compared with the three months ended August 2010.
The 6.6% increase, or five billion rand, was mainly due to increases in the sales value of platinum group metals, which contributed 2.9 percentage points or 2.2 billion rand, iron ore, which contributed 2.1 percentage points or 1.5 billion rand, and manganese ore, which contributed 1.1 percentage or 804 million rand.
The actual value of mineral sales at current prices in the three months ended November 2010 increased by 34.5% compared with the three months ended November 2009.
Major contributors to the increase were iron ore, PGMs, coal and gold. - I-Net Bridge