Mining Weekly on 10 February 2019
While the dialogue around the beneficiation of minerals in South Africa has been taking place for years, platinum beneficiation in the country has been moving at a “snail’s pace”. This is despite South Africa producing about 80% of the world’s platinum and hosting the world’s largest known deposits of platinum-group metals (PGMs).
However, it is important to note that in the past ten years there has been miniscule, if any, growth in the net demand for platinum which has potentially placed South Africa in a vulnerable position. The platinum industry is a derived market, therefore without the demand for platinum, mines and consequently downstream industries become obsolete.
The question that follows naturally is, how does South Africa inventively identify opportunities to use this endowment strategically and thus ensure growth in demand for platinum?