DUBLIN-- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "South African Metals and Mining Industry" report to their offering.

South Africa is a world leader in mining. The country is internationally renowned for an abundance of mineral resources, accounting for a significant proportion of both world production and reserves, and South African mining companies dominate many sectors in the global industry. South Africa is the world's biggest producer of gold and platinum and one of the leading producers of base metals and coal. The country's diamond industry is the fourth-largest in the world, with only Botswana, Canada and Russia producing more diamonds each year.

It is estimated that South Africa holds 80% of the world's known manganese reserves as well as 72% of the world's known chromite ore reserves. In 2005 South Africa was found to be the ninth-largest producer of aluminum, the largest producer of alumino-silicates, chrome ore and ferro-chromium. South Africa was also found to be the second-largest producer of manganese ore and the ninth-largest producer of nickel in the same year.

The mining industry in South Africa has seen significant restructuring and changes since the early 90's with the traditional "big six" mining houses - Anglo American / De Beers, Gencor/Billiton, Goldfields, JCI, Anglovaal and Rand Mines - being restructured and extending their global presence. These companies traditionally controlled gold, platinum, chrome, coal and base metal production in South Africa. The advent of a new democratic constitution and rising costs from gold mining activities resulted in several changes in the industry.

While holding the world's largest reserves of gold, platinum-group metals and manganese ore, the country has considerable potential for the discovery of other world-class deposits in areas yet to be exhaustively explored.

The latest report from Aruvian Research - South African Metals and Mining Industry brings you an entire coverage of the metals and mining industry with a special focus on the diamond sector, the gold industry, and the platinum-group metals (PGM) in South Africa. The report also covers the major players in these sectors. Aruvian's report takes a look at the recent regulatory changes and how they are affecting the mining industry in South Africa.

Apart from the regulatory changes overall, the report also broadly covers the regulations affecting the diamond, gold and PGM sectors. The economics of mining, metal reserves, production of metals and minerals, production techniques, refining techniques, and a lot more technical data is also researched to satisfaction of any investor/researcher looking in to this particular sector.

Industry players covered in this report include African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo Platinum, Northam Platinum, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, De Beers Group, Xstrata Plc, BHP Billiton, and many other leading companies.

Key Topics Covered:

* Executive Summary
* A Brief Profile of South Africa
* Introduction to the Metals Mining Industry
* Competition in the Industry
* The Transformation of the South African Mining Industry
* Regulatory Framework and Regulatory Structure
* Platinum Group Metal (PGM) Mines
* Gold Industry in South Africa
* Gold Refining in South Africa
* Diamond Industry in South Africa
* Mining Affecting South Africa's Biodiversity
* Industry Outlook
* Leading Players
* Appendix
* Glossary of Terms

Companies Mentioned:

* African Rainbow Minerals
* Anglo Platinum
* Aquarius Platinum
* Barplats Investments
* Impala Platinum Holdings
* Lonmin Plc
* Northam Platinum
* Nkomati Mine
* Palabora Mining Company
* AngloGold Ashanti
* Gold Fields
* DRDGOLD
* Western Areas
* Alexkor Limited
* De Beers Group
* Good Hope Diamonds
* Diamond Core Resources
* African Gem Resources
* Harmony Gold Mining Company
* Randgold Resources
* Durban Roodepoort Deep
* Xstrata Plc
* BHP Billiton

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/278a75/south_african_meta