Johannesburg - Mining production increased by 2.4% year-on-year in January, boosted by iron ore and other non-metallic minerals, figures released on Thursday by Statistics South Africa showed.
Iron ore production added 3.4 percentage points to the increase, while other non-metallic minerals put on 1.3 percentage points.
Iron ore is the key component in steel and is mostly used all metals.
The statistics also revealed that mineral sales increased by 4.5 % year-on-year in January 2018, with gold and coal as the top contributors.
Seasonally adjusted mining production decreased by 3.6 % in the three months ended January 2018 compared with the previous three months.
Mining remains a key component of South Africa's economy despite declining output and productivity.
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