Gold price loses more of its shine

Johannesburg-SA (April 21)  Figures released by Statistics South Africa on Friday show that gold sales in January 2017 was valued at R4.4-billion.

 For many decades gold mining was the mainstay of the South African economy. Gold mining bolstered employment, foreign exchange earnings and, through the provision of goods and services to the mines, industrialisation.

 However, as mining costs soared gold production started to decline in the early 1980s. Fortunately, the decline of gold mining was accompanied by a surge in the production of Platinum Group Minerals (PGM) in the Rustenburg area and then further north.

 In 1980, gold accounted for 67% of all mineral sales (by value not volume). Today gold accounts for only 13% of mineral sales. The value of gold sales now falls behind even that of iron are. The minerals that are currently more valuable than gold are, in order: coal (R9.5 billion), PGMs (R7-billion), iron ore (R4.4 billion).

 While the actual value of gold sales depends on the gold price and the exchange rate, the mineral is unlikely to ever regain its premier role. At current rates of extraction all gold reserves in the ground will be exhausted within 30 years.

Source: SABC