South African gold production down 17.6% in December

Official figures revealed today (February 12th) that gold production in South Africa fell by 17.6 percent on a year-on-year basis over the course of December 2008.

The news was disclosed by Pretoria-based agency Statistics South Africa, which also confirmed that total mineral production was down by 10.7 percent.

Furthermore, the reduction in gold output contributed to the 7.5 percent annual decline in total mining production, which compares to a 0.9 per cent fall in 2007 and is the lowest total since 2000.

The figures mean that gold production for the year was down by 2.2 percent, a trend which, if it continues, helps anyone with a Gold Investment as lower supplies could boost demand and subsequently Gold Prices.

The data was influenced significantly by the crisis suffered by the country's state power utility Eskom in the early part of last year, which saw a number of mines forced to close down temporarily.

At present, only 90 to 95 percent power has returned, while a skills shortage and other safety-related mine closures also impacted on production.

South Africa is now the world's third-largest producer of the yellow metal, having fallen behind China and the US.

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