S. Africa mining turnover declines in Q4
According to the statistics of South African government, the total turnover of all industries for the quarter ending December 2004 increased 4.7% from the previous quarter to Rand 758.8 billion ($122.22 billion). However, the mining and quarrying industry reported a 5.5% decrease in turnover to Rand 31.8 billion. Total capital expenditure on new assets increased 7.4% to Rand 23 billion compared to the previous quarter. The mining and quarrying industry saw the second largest increase in terms of new assets, a 55.9% increase to Rand 3.5 billion. For the final quarter of 2004, the mining and quarrying industry spent Rand 902 million on buildings, improvements and construction works; Rand 2.15 billion on plant, machinery, furniture, fittings and other equipment and Rand 441 million on vehicles.