A pedestrian walks along a street as the Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., also known as Implats, shaft 9 mine tower stands beyond in Rustenburg, South Africa, on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Caption
The decline was across the board. Gold production was 20% lower in May after plummeting 60% in April. Iron ore output was 66% lower, platinum group metals 27%. Coal production only declined 9.6% as mines that supply Eskom have been allowed to operate since the lockdown hit in late March. Of course, any kind of recovery from the horror show that was April will be welcome. But the data adds to a distressing economic picture for Q2. Mining accounts for about 8% of South Africa’s gross domestic product and in April half of that was taken out, and then a third in May – and this was a sector that was given more leeway to operate than most. The overall Q2 GDP contraction may have been well north of 30%.