2016-12-27 Tue

Russia and South Africa are the world’s main sources of platinum and palladium. South Africa has 40% for palladium and 70% of platinum from the world’s reserves.

Union-led workers’ strikes in the form of multi-month work stoppages have affected mining of platinum in South Africa. Pricing of platinum has also reduced considerably from $1,500 USD/oz to around $900 per ounce today. Unlike gold, platinum is seen more as an industrial metal than precious metal. Its future would depend greatly on the general welfare of the commodities and resource extraction sectors. Moreover, to extract high-grade ore, mines have to dig deeper increasing the miners’ cost of operation.

Decreasing price levels and increasing demand for environment-friendly metals will help in improving the status of this industry. Some South African mining companies have shown their interest in platinum because of the growing demand for this precious metal.