South Africa: Gold Production 'To Continue to Drop'

By Charlotte Mathews

Johannesburg - THE volume of gold produced by SA would probably continue declining until next year because of the government's focus on mine safety, declining ore grades, electricity and skills shortages, increased operating costs and labour issues, Frost & Sullivan analyst Wonder Nyanjowa said yesterday.

Last year, SA produced about 220 tons of gold, falling into third place after China and the US among the world's biggest gold mining countries.

In the first quarter of this year, SA produced 49,71 tons of gold, 4,8% less than in the same quarter last year.

Between next year and 2014, South African gold production was likely to be flat, or to improve by small increments, but it should start to increase significantly from 2014, Nyanjowa said. From 2011, electricity supply and skills shortage should start to ease.

In the longer term, growth in output would be stimulated by a higher gold price, which would attract explorers and investors to the deep-level gold deposits in the Wits Basin, and by technological advances that were minimising operating costs, he said.

Frost & Sullivan's latest report came as gold edged higher after two sessions of retreat, driven by movements in the dollar. Gold was fixed at 952,50/oz yesterday in London compared with 943,75/oz on Monday.

In its latest Asian Metals Monthly, Fortis Bank-VM Group said it expected gold to fix in London between 900 and 1000/oz in the short term because investors were nervous about the markets .

Original Source:
Original date published: 10 June 2009

Source Url: http://allafrica.com/stories/200906100525.html?viewall=1

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