Country profile
South Africa
For South Africa, Rare Context holds 3 assets and rights in 2 classes and figures on mine production and reserves. It is the largest producer of manganese, vermiculite, chromium and 3 more commodities among the countries the USGS lists.
Assets and rights
Each class links to its page for South Africa.
Mine production and reserves
26 commodities in the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, the ones where South Africa ranks highest first.
| Commodity | Mine production, 2025 | World rank | Reserves, 2025 | World rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manganese, gross weight | 7,600,000 t/year +1% | #1 of 8 | 550,000,000 t | #2 of 7 |
| Vermiculite | 160,000 t/year −2% | #1 of 11 | 14,000,000 t | #2 of 6 |
| Chromium, chromium content | 23,000,000 t/year 0% | #1 of 7 | — | — |
| Kyanite and related minerals, andalusite | 120,000 t/year −8% | #1 of 3 | — | — |
| Platinum | 120 t/year −5% | #1 of 5 | — | — |
| Talc and pyrophyllite | 300,000 t/year −23% | #1 of 6 | — | — |
| Palladium | 70 t/year −15% | #2 of 5 | — | — |
| Zirconium, gross weight | 270,000 t/year −7% | #2 of 9 | — | — |
| Titanium mineral concentrates, rutile | 100,000 t/year −2% | #3 of 6 | 6,200,000 t | #2 of 6 |
| Titanium mineral concentrates, ilmenite | 1,300,000 t/year +3% | #3 of 11 | 28,000,000 t | #6 of 9 |
16 more commodities
| Commodity | Mine production, 2025 | World rank | Reserves, 2025 | World rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluorspar | 410,000 t/year −8% | #4 of 12 | 41,000,000 t | #3 of 9 |
| Garnet (industrial) | 40,000 t/year 2024 | #4 of 7 | 1,300,000 t | #4 of 4 |
| Vanadium, vanadium content | 5,000 t/year −38% | #4 of 4 | 520 t | #4 of 6 |
| Diamond (industrial) | 3,000,000 carats/year 0% | #5 of 6 | 87,000,000 carats | #5 of 6 |
| Gemstones | 2,100,000 carats/year −2% | #6 of 12 | 87,000,000 carats | #6 of 7 |
| Iron ore, iron content | 42,000,000 t/year +2% | #7 of 17 | 680,000,000 t | #14 of 17 |
| Iron ore, usable ore | 66,000,000 t/year +3% | #8 of 17 | — | — |
| Gold, gold content | 90 t/year 0% | #11 of 13 | 5,000 t | #3 of 13 |
| Perlite | 10,000 t/year −9% | #14 of 14 | — | — |
| Phosphate rock, marketable phosphate rock | 2,200,000 t/year −1% | #15 of 24 | 1,500,000,000 t | #8 of 24 |
| Chromium, Cr2O3 content | — | — | 110,000,000 t | #1 of 8 |
| Chromium, ore | — | — | 350,000,000 t 2024 | #1 of 8 |
| Platinum-group metals, platinum-group-metal (PGM) content | — | — | 63,000 t | #1 of 5 |
| Zirconium, ZrO2 content | — | — | 5,900,000 t | #2 of 9 |
| Rare earths, rare-earth-oxide (REO) equivalent | — | — | 860,000 t | #9 of 11 |
| Iron ore, crude ore | — | — | 1,200,000,000 t | #15 of 17 |
World rank among the countries the USGS lists for each commodity, largest first. A percentage is the change on the year before.
Largest owners in South Africa
By number of assets and rights they own, operate or hold here. Grid operators and users are not counted.
Data on this page
- Berkeley Offsets Database. Berkeley Offsets Database, CC BY 4.0.
- USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, CC0 1.0.