SA had 42 mine deaths in 2024, lowest on record

Mines in South Africa, which is the world’s largest producer of platinum, last year registered the lowest number of deaths on record.

Operations reported 42 fatalities, compared with 55 a year earlier, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said in a statement Thursday.

The country’s mines are among the world’s deepest and most expensive to run. Commodity companies employed almost 480 000 people in 2023, according to Minerals Council South Africa, the industry’s key lobby group. Mining contributed 4.4% to the nation’s economy in that year, according to the statistics agency.

The number of injuries sustained by workers declined 16% from a year earlier to 1 841, Mantashe said.

Companies including Anglo American Plc and Glencore Plc operate in the country.

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