Nornickel bets on AI to find palladium uses
NORILSK Nickel is deploying artificial intelligence as part of a $100m push to develop new applications for palladium, as electric vehicles threaten to erode the metal’s dominant…
Northam starts initial work on Zondereinde expansion
NORTHAM Platinum has approved a R500m capital programme that will provide it with an option to expand production at its Zondereinde mine to more than 400,000 ounces a year of…
Valterra to trial underground mining at Mogalakwena in 2026
VALTERRA Platinum will launch trial mining operations at its flagship Mogalakwena open-pit complex in late 2026, signalling confidence in platinum group metals (PGMs) amid a…
Platinum’s full-throated recovery brings downcycle to an end
AFTER several months of positively trending prices, platinum has staged a full-throated rally, gaining 20% in just more than a month and taking sister metal palladium some of the…
Hybrid vehicle sales will buoy platinum until 2026
THE SURGE in the platinum price over the past month to above $1,385/oz may be followed by a short-term correction, but it is expected to continue appreciating in the remainder of…
Three things Miller has on his Valterra Platinum ‘to-do’ list
DEMERGERS should achieve three things: improve transparency, sharpen focus and satisfy not only existing shareholders but future ones. So said the Financial Times in reference to…
Southern Palladium goes north in search of money
ROGER Baxter, former CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa, is recently back from meeting North American investors to whom he’s been extolling the virtues of Southern…
Platinum Group signs MoU to build refinery in Saudi Arabia
PLATINUM Group Metals, a Canadian company studying the development of the Waterberg Project in Limpopo province, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia for…
For many in the US, battery electric vehicles don’t add up
THERE is not a single charging station for electric vehicles (EVs) in Wyoming, a predominately rural state in the mountainous west of the US where people tend to drive large…
Platinum tipped to shake off negative price sentiment
THE platinum market is forecast to move into a yet wider supply deficit this year, according to the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC). Commenting in its second quarter…
Cyber attack hit smelting at US mine, says Sibanye-Stillwater
A CYBER attack earlier this month on Sibanye-Stillwater’s systems hit production at the group’s Stillwater mine in the US resulting in “short term operational delays”. The event,…
Pro-business GNU could help SA platinum sector – WPIC
SOUTH Africa’s newly instituted Government of National Unity could help the platinum group metals (PGMs) industry to respond quicker to market cycles, said BusinessLive citing a…
Time to let out the handbrake on platinum group metals?
The JSE’s four largest platinum miners cut nearly R30bn in planned capital and stay-in-business expenditure in February in a clear vote that the metal’s price, and those of its…
Sibanye-Stillwater to cut 287 jobs at US mine as palladium halves
THE grim prospects for the palladium price has forced Sibanye-Stillwater into a fresh round of restructuring at its US mine Stillwater Mining. Sibanye-Stillwater announced today…
Sibanye-Stillwater, Implats dismiss fears of “mine closures”
SOUTH African platinum group metal (PGM) producers say they have taken steps to minimise mine closures, but they also acknowledge the downturn in prices may result in shorter…
How the wheels came off for SA’s platinum group metal miners
“We didn’t see it coming” are not the words investors typically want to hear. But it was a refreshingly honest take from Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne, when asked about the…
Does new Amplats CEO Craig Miller have what it takes?
INCOMING Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) CEO Craig Miller ought to have an easier ride than his predecessor. In her three years as boss of the platinum group metals (PGM)…
Northam to sell stake in RBPlat for R13.1bn as PGM market heads for “protracted downturn”
NORTHAM Platinum is to sell its 34.5% stake in Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) ahead of a “potentially protracted downturn” in platinum group metal prices (PGM). Northam will…
Surging chrome price comes to rain-hit Tharisa’s rescue in first six months
A SURGING chrome price softened the impact of heavy rainfall for Tharisa which resulted in lower production of its co-product platinum group metals (PGM). Commenting in its…
‘Unprecedented’ rainfall dampens Tharisa first quarter chrome and PGM mine output
UNPRECEDENTED rainfall hampered production from Tharisa’s platinum group metal (PGM) and chrome mine in the first quarter, the Johannesburg-listed group said in an update today.…