Gold sales more than double in June, lifting South African mineral sales 27%

Gold was the standout performer in South Africa's mineral sales for June 2026. Preliminary data published by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on 13 August showed gold sales at current prices up 125.7% year on year to about R20.7bn, contributing 17.1 percentage points to a 27.2% rise in total mineral sales, which reached about R86.1bn.

PGMs, up 27.0%, and chromium ore, up 49.0%, were the next largest contributors. Iron ore sales fell 16.1% and were one of only two negative contributors.

Output rose too, bucking the wider trend

Gold production volumes rose 6.2% year on year in June, according to the release, making gold one of the few bright spots in a weak month for the sector. Total mining production declined 4.0% year on year in the first estimate, later revised to a 4.3% fall.

The quarterly picture was less encouraging. On a seasonally adjusted basis, mining production fell 2.7% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first. Gold volumes declined 3.2% quarter on quarter, subtracting 0.3 of a percentage point, alongside larger drops in PGMs and other minerals.

Price is doing the heavy lifting

The gap between the sales and production figures shows how much the rand gold price has done for the sector's revenue. Harmony Gold, the country's largest producer by volume, received an average of R2,069,710/kg in its financial year to June 2026, 35% more than a year earlier, and DRDGold's average received price rose 40%.

That has pushed gold's contribution to national mineral revenue up sharply, even though its production index remains well below 2019 levels. Stats SA's seasonally adjusted gold volume index stood at 86.7 in the second quarter, against a 2019 base of 100.

Month-to-month volatility

Stats SA's sales figures are sensitive to the timing of bullion sales by producers and refiners, which can create large monthly swings. Gold sales had risen by a far more modest 7.1% in May and 12.2% in April, and they fell 33.4% in July, according to later releases. Analysts therefore tend to watch rolling three-month figures for a truer reading of the trend.

For the wider economy, June's numbers were welcome. Higher gold and PGM receipts helped offset weaker iron ore sales, which fell year on year in five of the first six months of 2026, according to the same Stats SA tables.

Sources

• Statistics South Africa: Mining: Production and sales (Preliminary), June 2026 (P2041), 13 Aug 2026
• Statistics South Africa: Mining: Production and sales (Preliminary), July 2026 (P2041), 10 Sept 2026
• EWN: Gold shines bright as SA mineral sales skyrocket 27% to R86.1bn, 13 Aug 2026

Photo: Detail of a one-ounce South African Krugerrand gold coin. Jedesto, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.