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# Gold and platinum prices have soared, and South African mining output has barely moved
- URL: https://www.businessbagel.com/pwc-sa-mine-2026-reserves-up-production-below-2019/
- Published: 2026-10-09T03:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-09T02:59:59.000Z
- Description: PwC's SA Mine 2026 report finds bigger reserves and longer mine lives for gold, platinum group metals and iron ore, while production rose just 2% and still trails 2019.
- Author: Christian Maidman
- Tags: Economy, Business Bagel News

A mine's reserves are not a fixed pile of rock. They are the part of what is underground that can be dug out at a profit, so when prices rise or the technology improves, the same mine can suddenly hold more. That is the heart of PwC's SA Mine 2026 report on the country's listed miners, and it explains both the good news in it and the disappointing part.

Prices did a lot of the lifting. Measured in dollars, the average gold price over the year to June was half as high again as in the 12 months before, and platinum rose by 80%. PwC says that turned some ground that used to be too costly to mine into ground worth mining. The companies it analysed brought in 38% more revenue, R786 billion in all, and their free cash flow, the money left once the bills and the investment are paid, was about two and a half times bigger.

## Mines with more years in them

Gold, platinum group metals and iron ore all have longer lives ahead of them than they did in 2023\. Gold reserves rose from 68 million to 77 million ounces, adding two years to the average mine. Platinum group metals gained five. Iron ore moved the most: reserves grew by more than half, to about 1.1 billion tonnes, and the average mine went from 13 years of life left to 23.

Most of that is coming from mines that already exist. Instead of building large new projects, companies spent on working more efficiently, extending the lives of existing operations, improving infrastructure and reprocessing old mine waste. Vuyiswa Khutlang, a partner at PwC, put it this way: "investment and innovation are helping companies get more from existing assets."

## Output still stuck below 2019

What has not followed is production. It rose just 2% in the year to June and remains about 5% under 2019, according to the report. PwC's explanation, as BusinessDay reports it, is that years without real investment have kept output under pressure, so miners cannot make the most of the high prices.

Getting bulk minerals to the coast is part of the problem, with rail and port delays hurting both prices and planning. Transnet Freight Rail moved 167.9 million tons in the year to March, more than a year before but far short of the 226 million it carried in 2017/18.

New mines are further off again. Investors have cooled on early exploration, put off by regulation, slow permits and doubts about whether a find could ever be built into a mine. PwC wants more spending on exploration, infrastructure and skills, and progress on reliable power and faster permitting. The report does count a few signs of intent, among them African Rainbow Minerals' approval of its R15.5 billion Bokoni project, and notes that they will take years to deliver.