SA gold production down

Gold mining production was down in South Africa during November, new figures have revealed.

A report from Statistics South Africa (SSA) released today (January 10th) showed that gold production fell by 8.1 per cent between October and November last year, while total mining production saw a 6.4 per cent decline compared with the same month in 2006.

Gold production saw a larger decrease when compared with November 2006, falling by 12.7 per cent in total.

The overall drop in mining production was attributed by SSA to a number of shaft closures following fears over safety during October and November.

Data from the Chamber of Mines of South Africa released in November suggested that gold production fell by 5.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006.

According to Reuters, overall South African gold production has fallen by more than half in the last decade.