List of leading mining companies in South Africa

Throughout their 100-year existence, the company has built successful businesses in many industries and expanded beyond its roots in South Africa. “Mining has always been at our heart, but our journey has taken us down some interesting paths,” the company says.

Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian multinational and the world’s second largest metals and mining corporation, behind BHP, producing iron ore, copper, diamonds, gold and uranium. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto, in Huelva, Spain, from the Spanish government.

Since then, the company has grown through a long series of mergers and acquisitions to place itself among the world leaders in the production of many commodities, including aluminium, iron ore, copper, uranium, and diamonds.

In South Africa, the company  produce iron ore for steel, aluminium for cars and smart phones, copper for wind turbines, diamonds that set the standard for “responsible”, titanium for household products and borates for crops that feed the world. Thus,Rio Tinto is one of the leading mining companies in South Africa.

African Rainbow Minerals (ARM)

African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) is one of the leading South African diversified mining and minerals company with long-life, low unit cost operations. ARM mines and beneficiates iron ore, manganese ore, chrome ore, platinum group metals (PGMs), nickel and coal. ARM also produces manganese and chrome alloys, and has an investment in gold through its shareholding in Harmony.

AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti is an independent, global gold mining company with a diverse, high-quality portfolio of operations, projects and exploration activities across ten countries on four continents.

While gold is their principal product, the company also produce silver (Argentina) and sulphuric acid (Brazil) as by-products and will pursue value-creating opportunities in other minerals where we can leverage our existing assets, skills and experience to enhance value creation. AngloGold Ashanti is one of the major mining companies in South Africa.

Afrimat Limited

Afrimat Limited is a leading black empowered open pit mining company in South Africa providing industrial minerals and construction materials. Listed in the ‘Construction & Building Materials’ sector of the Main Board JSE Limited since 2006, Afrimat continues to expand its footprint into Africa.

Backed by more than 50 years’ experience, Afrimat operates through four key divisions:

• Construction materials
• Industrial minerals
• Bulk commodities
• Contracting services

Afrimat supplies a broad range of construction materials and industrial minerals ranging from mining and aggregates, metallurgical dolomites, agricultural lime, concrete products (bricks, blocks and pavers) to readymix. Further, Afrimat has established a strong foothold in contracting services comprising drilling and blasting, mobile crushing and screening.

Implats

Impala Platinum Holdings Limited or Implats is a South African holding company that owns several companies which operate mines that produce platinum and platinum group metals, as well as nickel, copper and cobalt.

Its most significant mine is the Impala mine in the North West province of South Africa.

It is recognised as one of the most largest mining companies in South Africa.

The company also owns or has interest in the Two Rivers mine and the Marula mine in the South Africa Bushveld Igneous Complex and the Mimosa mine and Zimplats in Zimbabwe, as well as the Impala Refining Services which smelts and refines metals for other companies.

In December 2019, Impala Canada was formed, owned by the holding company, out of the acquisition of North American Palladium and its mine in Ontario, Canada.Implats was formed in 1966 as a subsidiary of Union Corporation, which established a platinum mine in Rustenburg with an initial capacity of 100,000 oz per year

Assore Limited (Assore) is a mining holding company engaged principally in ventures involving base minerals and metals. The Company’s principal investment is a 50% interest in Assmang Limited (Assmang), which it controls jointly with African Rainbow Minerals Limited (ARM). The Company, through its various joint-venture entities and subsidiary companies, is involved in the mining of iron, manganese and chrome ores together with other industrial minerals and the production of manganese and chrome alloys.

DRDGOLD

DRDGOLD is a South African gold producer and a world leader in the recovery of gold from the retreatment of surface tailings. Our network of assets is unrivalled in South Africa and, with our consolidated businesses operating as a single entity, is focused on optimising these assets in order to increase gold production.

At the end of FY2018, DRDGOLD provided jobs for 2 304 people, including 878 permanent employees. The remaining 1 426 people worked for the specialist service providers engaged by the company to provide the expertise required for tailings reclamation and tailings dam management. In FY2018, the company produced 150 423oz of gold, generated R2 490.4 million in revenue, spent R1 452.7 million on capital projects (property, plant, equipment, surface) and 191ha of rehabilated land were lodged for clearance for redevelopment. Mineral Resources of 7.3Moz and Mineral Reserves of 3.3Moz were declared.

Sibanye-Stillwater

Sibanye-Stillwater is a leading international precious metals mining company, with a diverse portfolio of platinum group metal (PGM) operations in the United States and Southern Africa, gold operations and projects in South Africa, and copper, gold and PGM exploration properties in North and South America.

Sibanye-Stillwater is the world’s largest primary producer of platinum, the second largest primary producer of palladium and a top tier gold producer, ranking third globally, on a gold-equivalent basis, as well as a significant producer of rhodium and other PGMs and associated minerals such as chrome. The miner is also the global leading recycler and processor of spent PGM catalytic converter materials. Sibanye-Stillwater is listed at the JSE.

Exxaro Resources

Exxaro Resources (formerly part of Kumba Resources) is a large coal and heavy minerals mining company in South Africa. The company operates facilities and offices in Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. The company is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and at 31 December 2016, had assets of R59.931 billion and a market capitalisation of R32.05 billion. Exxaro Resources also ranks as one of the best mining companies in South Africa.

Atha Group

Atha Group is one of the largest mining companies in South Africa. It also operates in SADC Region, Middle East, and Asia.

The group endeavours to be a cost and quality front runner by achieving total integration in its operations across the mining and energy value chain. It manoeuvres an infrastructure intensive network and exercises integrated quality management process aimed at satisfactorily meeting customer requirements.

Apart from attaining superior technological and quality-specific edge over its competitors, the group also pays close attention to the enhancement of safety, health and environmental protection.

Glencore

Founded in the 1970s as a trading company, Glencore has grown to become a major producer and marketer of commodities – employing 160,000 people around the world.

Glencore is also major player in South Africa’s mining industry.

The company operations comprise around 150 mining and metallurgical sites and oil production assets. Our purpose is to responsibly source the commodities that enhance everyday life.

The company is a producer of metals and minerals including copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc and lead, ferroalloys, aluminium/alumina, iron ore, gold and silver.

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