South Africa’s mining production defied expectations in January as platinum group metal (PGM) miners ramped up operations to capitalise on the metals’ soaring prices.
The latest industry data from Stats SA, published on Thursday, showed mining production up 4.6% year on year in the first month of 2026, the most since October 2025, with PGM output the biggest driver.
Production of the metals was up 10.8% year on year, adding 2.7% to the headline figure.
Price tailwinds have bolstered PGM miners’ margins in recent months, as sustained demand for internal combustion engines and tariff uncertainty saw platinum climb nearly 6% in January after surging by 22.6% in December.
A stronger rand, a lower interest rate environment and lower fuel costs also kept mining input costs in check, with the latest Minerals Council SA data showing steady improvement in January, extending a gradual improvement in 2025.
Against this backdrop, several platinum majors reported production growth towards the end of last year.
Valterra Platinum, the country’s biggest producer, narrowly beat its own production forecasts for 2025, reporting a 10.8% quarterly jump in output in the three months to end-December.
Most of the improvement came from Amandelbult, which returned to a steady state for the first time since heavy flooding in Limpopo forced it to pause operations last February.
Impala Platinum reported a stable performance in the first half to end-December, with output up 1% year on year.
Northam Platinum reported a 3.7% uptick in production in the same period, and a 13.7% jump in total metal sales.
Further support for January’s reading came from chromium and manganese, two critical minerals for which South Africa is the world’s largest supplier.
Chromium ore production soared 37.3%, contributing 1.8% to the overall increase, while manganese production rose 12.5%, adding 1%.
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