Mining production down
Wed, 14 May 2008
South Africa's total mining production for the first quarter of 2008, after seasonal adjustment, decreased by 8.3 percent compared with the previous quarter, Statistics SA said on Tuesday.
"This decrease of 8.3 percent was due to a decrease of 10.1 percent in the production of gold and a decrease of 8.0 percent in the production of non-gold minerals," Stats SA said.
The major contributors to the decrease of 8.3 percent were the production of platinum group metals (PGMs) (-5.0 percentage points), diamonds (-1.8 percentage points) and gold (-1.3 percentage points).
In the first quarter of 2008, production of some mining minerals was negatively affected by power shortages and continued rainy conditions, preventing work in some mining shafts, Stats SA said.
Furthermore, the total mining production for the first quarter of 2008 decreased by 11.4 percent compared with the first quarter of 2007.
The actual total mining production for March 2008 decreased by 17.2 percent compared with March 2007.
Gold production decreased by 10.9 percent for the period March 2008 compared with March 2007.
Sapa
