South Africa’s headline mining production grew 3.6% year-on-year in May, but contracted -0.2% from the downwardly revised month-on-month decrease in April over March, of -1.4%. The three largest positive contributors to the headline improvement in mining activity came from iron-ore production, which increased by 28.6% year-on-year and 4.1 percentage points; diamond production, which increased by 61% year-on-year and 1.7 percentage points; and manganese production, which increased by 18.1% and one percentage point, said BNP Paribas Securities South Africa economist Jeffrey Schultz on Thursday.