South African Gold Output Drops 13th Straight Month in October

(Bloomberg) -- South African gold output contracted for a 13th consecutive month in October, the longest streak of declines in six years, as the industry battles unprofitable mines and labor strikes.

Gold production declined 15.1 percent from a year earlier, the Pretoria-based statistics office said Tuesday in a statement on its website. Total mining output rose 0.5 percent.

Key Insights:

• Dwindling output has cut gold’s contribution to little more than 1 percent of the South African economy, down from 3.8 percent in 1993.
• Unprofitable mines and demands for higher wages has led to job cuts in the industry, exacerbating unemployment in a country with a 27.5 percent jobless rate.
• The production of platinum-group metals surged 21.4 percent from a year earlier.

Read more about the demise of South Africa’s gold industry

To contact the reporter on this story: Rene Vollgraaff in Johannesburg at rvollgraaff@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Benjamin Harvey at bharvey11@bloomberg.net, Hilton Shone

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