Income
The total income for the mining industry in 2022 was R906,7 billion.
The total income represents an increase of 21,2% per annum compared with the
income reported in the corresponding survey of 2019 (R509,8 billion). ‘Mining of platinum group metal ore’ earned the largest share of income (R373,2 billion
or 41,2%), followed by ‘mining of coal and
lignite’ (R198,9 billion or 21,9%)
and ‘mining of iron ore’ (R119,2 billion or 13,2%).
Comparing 2019 and 2022, large increases were reported for ‘mining of platinum
group metal ore’ (+R230,5 billion), ‘mining of iron ore’ (+R58,6 billion)
and ‘mining of coal and lignite’ (+R54,2 billion).
Between 2012 and 2022, the ‘mining of platinum group metal ore’ group gained the biggest
percentage share of income (+14,0 percentage points) (from a percentage contribution
of 27,2% in 2012 to 41,2% in 2022). The ‘mining of gold and uranium ore’ group lost the biggest
percentage share of income over the same period (‑8,0 percentage points),
followed by the ‘mining of iron ore’ group (‑4,1 percentage points) and the
‘mining of coal and lignite’ group (‑2,5 percentage points).
Employment
The total number of persons employed in the mining industry as at the
end of June 2022 was 423 829. This represents an increase of 0,5% per annum compared
with the employment recorded in 2019. In 2022, ‘mining of platinum group metal
ore’ employed the largest number of persons (148 388 or 35,1%), followed by
‘mining of coal and lignite’ (95 863 or 22,6%) and ‘mining of gold and uranium
ore’ (88 451 or 20,9%).
Employment in the mining industry declined from 538 144 in 2012
to 423 829 in 2022 (a loss of 114 315 jobs). The biggest losses in jobs were
recorded in ‘mining of platinum group metal ore’ (a loss of 58 376 jobs), ‘mining of gold and
uranium ore’ (a loss of 55 633 jobs) and ‘mining of chrome ore’ (a loss of 5 793
jobs). The biggest gains in jobs were recorded in ‘mining of coal and lignite’
(a gain of 4 258 jobs), ‘other mining activities and service activities
incidental to mining’ (a gain of 3 841 jobs) and ‘mining of diamonds (including
alluvial diamonds)’ (a gain of 2 401 jobs).
Provincial estimates
The province with the largest income from sales of goods in the mining
industry in 2022 was Limpopo with R237,7 billion (or 27,3% of the industry
total). The province with the second largest income from sales of goods was North West (R193,1 billion or 22,2%), followed by Mpumalanga
(R173,0 billion or 19,9%) and Northern Cape (R155,2 billion or 17,9%).
The largest contributor to salaries and wages was also Limpopo (R30,7
billion or 23,5%), followed by Mpumalanga (R29,8 billion or 22,8%), North West
(R28,4 billion or 21,6%) and Gauteng (R18,3 billion or 14,0%).
In terms of employment, North West was the largest contributor with 100 790 (23,9%) persons working in the industry, followed by Limpopo (86 844 or 20,5%), Mpumalanga (85 673 or 20,2%) and Gauteng (68 530 or 16,2%).