12.1% FALL IN MINING REVENUE

MBABANE – Economic activity in the mining and quarry subsector continued on a downward trend, contracting by 12.1 per cent in 2019.

This is as per the 2020 Economic Review Report from the Central Bank of Eswatini. The mining and quarry subsector continued to be dominated by coal and quarried stone production. The past two years, however, have seen the advent of gold mining although at a very low scale at below 8 000 grams per annum. According to the report, the combined sales revenue for coal, gold and quarried stone, which represent the total output for the mining and quarrying subsector, amounted to E257.4 million in 2019.  The figures were recorded at E292.7 million in 2018.

Coal production, which is mainly anthracite, fell by 23.9 per cent to 109 926 metric tonnes in 2019 from 144 375 metric tonnes the previous year. The decrease in coal production was mainly attributed to geological constraints and falling coal yields. “Large mined areas were covered with granite rocks and less coal, resulting in yields falling to approximately 32 per cent in the period under review, from 48 per cent the previous year.

Unprocessed

“The sharp deterioration in yields pushed the country into importing unprocessed anthracite coal from neighbouring countries to ensure continued supply to existing contracts,” reads the report in part.  The industry was further dampened by falling coal prices, which fell by more than 20 per cent in 2019. This resulted in coal sales revenue declining by 11.3 per cent, from E242 million in 2018 to E214 million last year.  Meanwhile, production of other minerals such as gold is said to have increased steadily in the past year, though still at a small scale. In 2019, gold production volumes stood at 6 075 grams, up from 4 096 mined in 2018. The increase in gold production benefitted from the gold mine’s investment in mining equipment that improved productivity and efficiency gains.

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