Data confirms mining price freefall

Latest numbers from local data agency, Statistics Botswana, show that from July last year to March of this year, the prices of diamonds, soda ash, and coal have been on a freefall, with local miners getting less and less value for their minerals in each successive quarter.

The Mining Producer Price Index (PPI), which estimates the prices that mining companies get paid for what they produce (like diamonds, copper, and coal), shows that for the first quarter of 2025, the PPI dropped to 80.4, representing a steep 30.7% from the 116.1 recorded in the final quarter of 2024. This comes on the back of a tough 2024, where the PPI had already slipped by 10.8% in the third quarter.