Mining production slid 7.5% year on year in July after dropping by a revised 4.3% in June, weighed down by platinum group metals (PGMs), coal and iron ore, Stats SA said on Thursday.The decrease is an early indicator that the weakness that dogged the sector in the second quarter of the year, helping drag the economy into a contraction, extended into the third quarter.PGM volumes were down 13.5% year on year in June, contributing -3.2 percentage points to the headline print, while coal output fell 7.5% and iron ore production slumped 8.1%.Seasonally adjusted mining production was down 1.9% month on month in July after ticking up 0.1% in June. Output for the three months to end-July decreased by 5.5% after a 2.6% dip previously, with the largest negative contributors being PGMs, manganese ore, gold and iron ore.Stats SA data on Tuesday showed that output in the mining and quarrying industry retreated 3% in the second quarter of 2026, contributing to a 0.2% shrinkage in GDP for the period. The main culprits were again PGMs, manganese ore, gold and iron ore.Rising fuel prices linked to the US war against Iran have made it expensive to run machinery and get ore out of ports this year, piling pressure on mining companies that are also grappling with higher electricity costs.At the start of the year, the Minerals Council SA warned that rising electricity prices were threatening mining investment and output, with tariff increases having consistently exceeded the Reserve Bank’s inflation target for more than two decades. According to Eskom’s recent annual report, mining and industrial majors paid the state power utility R115bn for electricity in the 2025/26 financial year, nearly R50bn more than they paid in the 2021 financial year.Business Day