Economics
Platinum Mines in the World's Top Producer Are Shrinking
- Miners including Implats and Lonmin cutting output, jobs
- Stronger rand hurts mining companies’ profit margins
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“Ramaphoria” boosted the rand and revived investor sentiment on South Africa. But deep underground in the country’s platinum mines, there’s very little cause for optimism.
Producers in South Africa, which accounts for about 70 percent of the world’s mined platinum, are closing shafts and cutting thousands of jobs as a stronger rand combines with stagnating prices for the metal in squeezing profit margins.