Gold sales fell 33.4% year on year in July 2026 and gold output dropped 7.4%, according to Stats SA, as overall mining production contracted 7.5% and the second-quarter weakness carried into the third quarter.
Around 1,800 jobs are at risk at Petra Diamonds' Finsch and Cullinan mines, part of a wave of South African mining retrenchments that Solidarity says could total more than 4,000 positions in 2026.
Sibanye-Stillwater's South African PGM division generated R19.2bn of adjusted EBITDA in the first half of 2026, up 302%, as the 4E basket rose 67% to R43,996 an ounce and production held steady.
South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed Kalagadi Manganese's challenge to the IDC's authority to place the Northern Cape miner into business rescue, ending a long legal battle over its debts.
Sibanye-Stillwater now has about 164MW of contracted renewable capacity operating, part of 835MW of wind and solar deals meant to supply 64% of its South African energy needs by 2028.
Northam Platinum said on 25 August 2026 it had received an unsolicited, non-binding approach from a major South African PGM producer, reported by Bloomberg to be Valterra Platinum, and invited rival bids.
Grindrod has outlined five growth projects through 2028, including a 12-million-tonne Matola terminal expansion at Maputo and entry into South Africa's open-access rail network.
South Africa's high-carbon ferrochrome exports fell 20.8% in July 2026 as Chinese purchases dropped 27.2% month on month, while Japan's imports jumped to overtake Italy and South Korea as the second-largest buyer.
South Africa's mineral sales rose 27% year-on-year to R86.1bn in June 2026, Stats SA data published on 14 August showed, with gold sales up almost 126%.
Sibanye-Stillwater chief executive Richard Stewart has pivoted the group away from its earlier global diversification strategy back toward its South African PGM operations and a planned doubling of chrome output.
South Africa's gold sales rose 125.7% year on year to about R20.7bn in June 2026, according to Stats SA, making gold the largest contributor to a 27.2% increase in total mineral sales.
South African mining production fell 4% year-on-year in June 2026, Stats SA data published on 13 August showed, worse than the 3.3% decline analysts had forecast.
South Africa's mineral resources department has granted Southern Palladium a 30-year mining right for the Bengwenyama PGM project, next to the Modikwa mine, clearing the way for early works.
Glencore is considering restarting South African coal growth projects that it shelved when the business fell below 50 million tonnes a year, as improving rail capacity revives the economics.
South African PGM producers' realised basket price rose 85% year-on-year to $2,801 an ounce in the first half of 2026, as platinum, palladium and rhodium rallied together.
South Africa's energy regulator has approved a two-year discounted Eskom tariff for Manganese Metal Company, whose Mpumalanga plant relies on electricity for around 41% of production costs.
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources says 33 miners had died in South African mines by late July 2026, with Impala Platinum's Rustenburg operation accounting for more than a third of the toll.
Eskom CEO Dan Marokane has warned against locking South Africa into hard deadlines for closing coal-fired power stations, saying rigid targets could trigger a new supply crisis.
South African PGM shares have fallen with a basket price down more than 30% from January, but banks including RMB Morgan Stanley, Nedbank and UBS say fundamentals remain intact and valuations now look attractive.
Gold's steepest monthly fall since 2008 in June 2026 cut nearly 25% off the JSE's precious metals and mining index in the second quarter, with AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Sibanye-Stillwater all sharply lower.
South Africa's Asset Forfeiture Unit has permanently seized seven trucks found loaded with chrome ore after a North West High Court order, stemming from a 2025 raid on an illegal mining operation at Marulakop.
Transalloys, South Africa's only remaining manganese alloy smelter, stopped all furnace operations on 1 July 2026 after being excluded from the emergency electricity tariff that rescued ferrochrome producers.
South Africa's mineral sales reached R332bn in the four months to April 2026, up 36.5% year-on-year, with the Minerals Council projecting full-year sales near R995.5bn.
BMI cut its platinum and palladium price forecasts in mid-2026, citing shrinking global car sales and a recovering South African PGM supply chain.
