S. Africa's gold production falls by 10% in Q1

• Source: Xinhua
• [09:02 May 26 2009]
• Comments

South Africa's gold production fell for the first quarter of 2009, the Chamber of Mines said on Monday.

"South Africa's gold production fell by 10 percent to 49 713.6 kilograms when compared to the 55,242 kilograms produced in the fourth quarter of 2008," the chamber said in a statement.

On a year-on-year basis the rate of decline in gold production was 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

For gold mining companies that are members of the Chamber of Mines, production declined by 10.1 percent to 40,720.6 kilograms in the first quarter of 2009 when compared to the fourth quarter 2008.

On a year-on-year basis chamber member production fell by 7.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009, as the 1.3 percent decline in tons processed through the mills combined with a 6.1 percent decline in the average grade recovered resulted in lower production.

There was an increase in the use of low grade surface materials being processed through the mills as the mines attempted to try and compensate for lower underground production caused by the holiday period extending into the early part of 2009, the chamber said.

"While it is recognised that the first quarter presents a challenge from a holiday period point of view, the decline in production on a year-on-year basis in the first quarter of 2009 must be considered from the point of view that the first quarter of 2008 was a disaster for the South African mining industry due to the electricity crisis."