Mining in SA

Economic activity in South Africa was built on the foundation of more than a century of mining activities, its ancillary services, suppliers and financing.

South Africa has Africa’s most sophisticated and modern financial services sector. The country is the largest supplier of platinum group metals, chrome and manganese, with the biggest known resources of these minerals. It is a major source of gold, coal, iron ore and titanium-bearing mineral concentrates, while also mining nickel, zinc and copper, along with other minerals.

South Africa’s stock exchange in Johannesburg was established in 1887, two decades after the first diamonds were discovered on the banks of the Orange River, to fund the gold rush on the world-famous Witwatersrand, which has provided an estimated 40% of the world's mined gold.

In many ways, South Africa’s political, social and economic landscape has been dominated and shaped by mining, given that, for so many years, the sector has been the mainstay of the South African economy. It remains a significant industrial sector after more than 130 years of mining, underpinning export earnings, contributing to the fiscus through taxes, direct and indirect employment, and investments in communities.

Major mining sectors in SA

Coal

Coal mining’s advent in South Africa can best be traced to the start of gold mining in the late 19^th century, particularly on the Witwatersrand, with the first coal in appreciable tonnages extracted on the Highveld coal field close to the nascent Witwatersrand gold mines. Read more...

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Platinum

In South Africa the discovery of the first platinum nuggets dates back to 1924. The geologist Hans Merensky’s follow-up work resulted in the discovery of two deposits, each around 100km in length, which became known as the Bushveld Igneous Complex. Read more...

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Gold

The Witwatersrand Basin remains the world’s largest gold resource and has produced more than two billion ounces of gold to date. After 120 years of mining, operations in this area have reached depths of 4,000m, with the natural rock temperatures reach about 50°C. Read more...

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Diamonds

While diamond mining has been taking in place in South Africa for almost a century and a half, the country’s diamond sector is far from reaching the end of its life. Developments at the country’s three largest mines are designed to expand their outputs and to extend their lives to anywhere between a quarter and a half a century. Read more...