BRIAN KANTOR: Bright prospects for SA if it seizes the mining moment
The worldwide surge in inflation has helped SA. Higher prices for our mostly metal and mineral exports have boosted the profits of our miners and the taxes and royalties collected from them. In real terms, represented by the mining sector prices ratio (the mining deflator to prices in general, represented by the GDP deflator), these price trends have never before been as helpful.
The price-to-cost ratio in the SA mining sector is now even more favourable than it was in 1980, when the gold price rose from $35 to $800 an ounce and gold mining was by far the largest contributor to total mining output and revenues. Real mining prices rose 60% between 2015 and 2021...
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