South Africa
Every USGS world production table for 2025 that names South Africa: its share of each world total, its rank and its reserves.
South Africa’s share of each world total, 2025
- Platinum-group metals1st of 571%
- Chromium1st of 745%
- Manganese1st of 838%
- Platinum-group metalsPalladium mine production · 2nd of 536%
- Vermiculite1st of 1135%
- Titanium mineral concentratesrutile · 3rd of 622%
- Zirconium and hafnium2nd of 922%
- Titanium mineral concentratesilmenite · 3rd of 1114%
- Industrial diamond5th of 67.9%
- Vanadium4th of 44.4%
- Talc and pyrophyllite5th of 144.3%
- Fluorspar4th of 124%
- Gemstones6th of 123%
- Gold11th of 132.7%
- Iron oreMine production (iron content) · 7th of 172.6%
- Iron ore8th of 172.5%
- Phosphate rock15th of 240.9%
- SiliconFerrosilicon production · 11th of 130.7%
- Tellurium7th of 80.5%
- Selenium15th of 160.3%
- Lime22nd of 220.2%
- Perlite14th of 140.2%
- Silicon10th of 120.2%
- Kyanite and related mineralsandalusite · no world rank–
South Africa was the world’s largest producer of platinum-group metals, chromium, manganese, and vermiculite in 2025, by USGS figures. That included 71% of world platinum-group metals. It supplied 96% of U.S. imports of chromium in 2021–24. It ranked second of 9 listed producers of zirconium and hafnium, third of 6 listed producers of titanium mineral concentrates, and third of 11 listed producers of titanium mineral concentrates.
Production listings
ranks among countries with published figures
| Commodity | Measure | 2025 | Unit | Rank | Change on 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chromium | Mine production (chromite, gross weight) | 23,000 | thousand metric tons | 1st of 7 | +0.4% |
| Fluorspar | Mine production | 410 | thousand metric tons | 4th of 12 | −8.3% |
| Gemstones | Gem-quality natural diamond mine production | 2,100 | thousand carats | 6th of 12 | −1.9% |
| Gold | Mine production | 90 | metric tons, gold content | 11th of 13 | 0% |
| Industrial diamond | Natural industrial diamond mine production | 3 | million carats | 5th of 6 | 0% |
| Iron ore | Mine production (usable ore) | 66,000 | thousand metric tons, usable ore | 8th of 17 | +3.1% |
| Iron ore | Mine production (iron content) | 42,000 | thousand metric tons, usable ore | 7th of 17 | +2.4% |
| Kyanite and related minerals | Mine production, andalusite | 120,000 | metric tons | – | −7.7% |
| Lime | Lime production | 1,000 | thousand metric tons | 22nd of 22 | 0% |
| Manganese | Mine production (manganese content) | 7,600 | thousand metric tons, manganese content | 1st of 8 | +1.5% |
| Perlite | Mine production | 10 | thousand metric tons | 14th of 14 | −9.1% |
| Phosphate rock | Mine production | 2,200 | thousand metric tons, marketable phosphate rock | 15th of 24 | −0.9% |
| Platinum-group metals | Palladium mine production | 70,000 | kilograms, PGM content | 2nd of 5 | −15% |
| Platinum-group metals | Platinum mine production | 120,000 | kilograms, PGM content | 1st of 5 | −4.8% |
| Selenium | Refinery production | 10 | metric tons, selenium content | 15th of 16 | −9.1% |
| Silicon | Ferrosilicon production | 35 | thousand metric tons, silicon content | 11th of 13 | −2.8% |
| Silicon | Silicon metal production | 10 | thousand metric tons, silicon content | 10th of 12 | −33% |
| Talc and pyrophyllite | Mine production | 300 | thousand metric tons | 5th of 14 | −23% |
| Tellurium | Refinery production | 5 | metric tons, tellurium content | 7th of 8 | 0% |
| Titanium mineral concentrates | Mine production (ilmenite) | 1,300 | thousand metric tons, TiO2 content | 3rd of 11 | +3.2% |
| Titanium mineral concentrates | Mine production (rutile) | 100 | thousand metric tons, TiO2 content | 3rd of 6 | −2% |
| Vanadium | Mine production | 5,000 | metric tons, vanadium content | 4th of 4 | −38% |
| Vermiculite | Mine production | 160 | thousand metric tons | 1st of 11 | −1.8% |
| Zirconium and hafnium | Zirconium mineral concentrates, mine production (gross weight) | 270 | thousand metric tons | 2nd of 9 | −6.9% |
Reserves
19 reserve figures published for South Africa
| Commodity | Measure | Reserves | Unit | Rank | World share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chromium | Reserves (shipping-grade chromite ore) | 350,000 | thousand metric tons | 1st of 8 | – |
| Chromium | Reserves (Cr2O3 content) | 110,000 | thousand metric tons | 1st of 8 | – |
| Platinum-group metals | PGM reserves | 63,000,000 | kilograms | 1st of 5 | – |
| Manganese | Reserves | 550,000 | thousand metric tons | 2nd of 7 | 31% |
| Titanium mineral concentrates | Reserves (rutile) | 6,200 | thousand metric tons | 2nd of 6 | – |
| Vermiculite | Reserves | 14,000 | thousand metric tons | 2nd of 6 | – |
| Zirconium and hafnium | Zirconium reserves (ZrO2 content) | 5,900 | thousand metric tons | 2nd of 9 | – |
| Fluorspar | Reserves | 41,000 | thousand metric tons | 3rd of 9 | 12% |
| Gold | Reserves | 5,000 | metric tons | 3rd of 13 | 7.6% |
| Helium and rare gases | Helium reserves | 400 | million cubic meters | 4th of 5 | – |
| Industrial garnet | Reserves | 1,300,000 | metric tons | 4th of 4 | – |
| Vanadium | Reserves | 520 | thousand metric tons | 4th of 6 | 2.4% |
| Industrial diamond | Reserves | 87 | million carats | 5th of 6 | 5.1% |
| Gemstones | Gem-quality diamond reserves | 87,000 | thousand carats | 6th of 7 | – |
| Titanium mineral concentrates | Reserves (ilmenite) | 28,000 | thousand metric tons | 6th of 9 | – |
| Phosphate rock | Reserves | 1,500,000 | thousand metric tons | 8th of 24 | 2.1% |
| Rare earths | Reserves | 860,000 | metric tons | 9th of 11 | – |
| Iron ore | Reserves (iron content) | 680 | million metric tons | 14th of 17 | 0.8% |
| Iron ore | Reserves (crude ore) | 1,200 | million metric tons | 15th of 17 | 0.6% |
Supplier to the United States
share of U.S. imports, 2021–24
- Chromiumall imports96%
- Industrial garnetall imports59%
- Kyanite and related mineralsall imports54%
- Zirconium and hafniumZirconium ores and concentrates48%
- Vermiculiteall imports46%
- Platinum-group metalsPalladium37%
- Titanium mineral concentratesall imports26%
- ManganeseManganese ore24%
- Fluorsparall imports9%
- GemstonesDiamond4%
Similar producer profiles
most shared commodities, relative to both lists
- China16 commodities in common
- United States14 commodities in common
- Russia12 commodities in common
- Brazil11 commodities in common
Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, world production and reserves tables. How ranks and shares are worked out.