Mining Information from Focus
Geography Grade 12
The contribution of mining to the South African economy
• Mining benefits the economy and people in these ways:
• The mining sector provides many jobs, which decreases unemployment.
• Mines supply raw materials to secondary activities such as factories and industries. This
in turn stimulates industrial development.
• When mines start up, new towns and transport networks develop around the mines.
• Mining stimulates other sectors of the economy, such as farming, building and trade,
to meet the needs of the growing number of people who live and work in mining towns.
• Harbours, like those at Saldanha Bay and Richards Bay, expand to cope with increased
mineral exports to other countries. This creates more jobs and also helps other sectors
of the economy to grow.
• The export of mining products increases the profits of the mines because they earn
foreign exchange.
The significance of mining to the development of South Africa
By Reese Humphries
Geography Grade 12
The contribution of mining to the South African economy
• Mining benefits the economy and people in these ways:
• The mining sector provides many jobs, which decreases unemployment.
• Mines supply raw materials to secondary activities such as factories and industries. This
in turn stimulates industrial development.
• When mines start up, new towns and transport networks develop around the mines.
• Mining stimulates other sectors of the economy, such as farming, building and trade,
to meet the needs of the growing number of people who live and work in mining towns.
• Harbours, like those at Saldanha Bay and Richards Bay, expand to cope with increased
mineral exports to other countries. This creates more jobs and also helps other sectors
of the economy to grow.
• The export of mining products increases the profits of the mines because they earn
foreign exchange.
The significance of mining to the development of South Africa
By Reese Humphries
