Platinum deficit in 2024 to be deeper than expected – WPIC
A global platinum deficit in 2024 will be deeper than previously expected as mines hit by low prices for palladium and rhodium cut supply, the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) said, adding there were risks mine supplies could fall even further.
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Platinum’s worst crisis in decades hits jobs in South Africa
South Africa’s platinum producers are in crisis, as slumping metal prices force jobs cuts and erode profits.
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Northam CEO says South African platinum miners facing worst crisis in decades
Northam Platinum’s CEO said on Friday that platinum mining companies in South Africa, the world’s top supplier of the metal, are facing “severe” market conditions and are caught up in the worst crisis in three decades as prices plummet.
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Impala Platinum considers mine closures after profit slump
Impala Platinum could shut some loss-making South African mining operations if metal prices deteriorate further and restructuring efforts fail to improve margins, chief executive Nico Muller said.
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South African platinum industry could shed up to 7,000 jobs to cut costs
Restructuring of South Africa’s platinum group metals (PGM) industry in response to rising costs and falling prices could result in between 4,000 and 7,000 job cuts, the country’s Minerals Council said on Monday.
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As price parity beckons, substitution from palladium to platinum to wane
Mining News Pro - The rate at which platinum is displacing palladium in the manufacture of autocatalysts is slowing due to the sister metals approaching price parity, a trend which is likely to persist through this year, analysts said.
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Platinum miners’ underground protest in South Africa goes on
Mining News Pro - Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. said an underground protest at one of its mines in South Africa is unresolved, with more than 2,000 workers still below surface.
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Plummeting platinum group prices could worsen shortage
Mining News Pro - The price of platinum group metals (PGM) has fallen by 42% this year and could widen a supply deficit if unprofitable mines are sidelined, according to a new report by an industry group.
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Anglo consults South Africa on potential platinum, iron job cuts
Mining News Pro - The company has held talks with the government over the potential reduction in its workforce, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter hasn’t been made public. Senior government officials asked the company to consider delaying the cuts until after elections likely to take place around May, three of the people said.
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The Congress of South African Trade Unions said that Anglo has also spoken to one of its members, the National Union of Mineworkers, about the matter.
The job cuts would be another blow to the electoral prospects of President Cyril Ramaphosa and his ruling African National Congress. Anglo is already in the midst of plans to slash corporate and head office jobs globally, with many of those positions in South Africa. The company joined other mining behemoths in posting a steep drop in first-half profit as China’s economic slowdown damped earnings.
Anglo American Platinum Ltd. — about 79% owned by London-based Anglo — is contending with a 14% fall in the price of platinum this year and a 41% plunge in palladium, a valuable byproduct. Rival Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. said in October that it may fire more than 4,000 platinum workers.
Kumba Iron Ore Ltd., owner of South Africa’s biggest iron ore mine and a 70% subsidiary of Anglo, said third-quarter iron ore sales fell 12% from the year earlier, largely because of the poor performance of state ports and freight rail company, Transnet SOC Ltd. The company is almost out of storage space for the ore it has mined and can’t rail it, one of the people said.
“It is no secret that the current operating environment is very tough for both macro and South Africa-specific reasons and we are playing a major role in working across business and with government to help resolve some of those South Africa constraints,” Anglo said in a response to queries. “Beyond that, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of our discussions.”
While a final decision on whether to fire workers and how many positions may be affected has not been taken, the job cuts may impact Anglo American Platinum first, the people familiar said. Those at Kumba may be deferred until later, they added.
The minerals department didn’t respond to a request for comment, while Gwede Mantashe, minerals and energy minister and chairman of the ANC, didn’t answer a call to his phone or respond to a text message.
PGM prices are falling because of global economic conditions, especially the weaker-than-expected recovery in China.
Kumba’s woes are directly related to the sub-standard performance of Transnet, whose inability to rail commodities to ports has also led to coal companies Seriti Resources Holdings Ltd. and Glencore Plc to start talks over job cuts. The plunge in rail performance has seen the amount of iron ore transported to ports fall to the lowest in a decade, while coal shipments by rail are at a 30-year low, according to a report prepared for Ramaphosa’s office.
In an Oct. 24 production report, Kumba said “ongoing rail and port challenges have increased our focus on cost optimization and initiatives to match production and optimize logistics capacity.” It said it had 9 million tons of iron ore in stock at the end of September, almost double the amount it had on site a year earlier.
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Amplats sees no immediate rebound in low platinum metals price
Mining News Pro - Anglo American Platinum’s CEO said he expected the low metal prices companies in South Africa are currently grappling with to persist, and he was aligning the business for the possibility that they would not rise for some time.
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Sibanye CEO warns of platinum mining job losses as price plummets
Mining News Pro - Sibanye Stillwater, South Africa’s biggest mining sector employer, may be forced to close some loss-making shafts, its CEO told Reuters, adding job cuts in platinum mining had become inevitable as prices of the precious metals fall.
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Platinum market faces record deficit
Mining News Pro - Platinum will register a 2.2% bigger supply deficit than previously expected for 2023 at a record 1 million troy ounces, driven by strong demand and flat supply, the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) said on Wednesday.
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Impala Platinum’s Zimbabwe unit eyes expansion into lithium
Mining News Pro - Impala Platinum Holding Ltd.’s Zimbabwe unit is considering expanding into other metals, including lithium.
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Sibanye CEO expects S.Africa’s platinum output to rebound in 2024
Mining News Pro - South Africa’s output of platinum group metals (PGM) should rebound in 2024 as the country starts to recover from a power crisis that will cut its production by as much as 20% this year, Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye Stillwater said.
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Platinum nanoclusters improve fuel cell performance
Mining News Pro - Recent findings by researchers at the Tokyo University of Science have the potential to serve as a guideline for the design of future high-activity, high-performance platinum catalysts for use in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs).
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South Africa’s blackouts threaten platinum supply in top miner
Mining News Pro - South Africa’s worst ever power blackouts are threatening platinum and palladium supplies in the top miner, both now and in the years ahead.
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Ex-platinum partners fund manager guilty in $70 million fraud
Mining News Pro - A former Platinum Partners fund manager was found guilty of engaging in a fraud scheme to rig a bond vote at an an oil and gas company.
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Analysts slash platinum and palladium forecasts amid global slowdown
Mining News Pro - Analysts and traders have sharply lowered their price forecasts for platinum and palladium as a global economic slowdown reduces demand, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.
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How platinum can help clean up wastewater, make it potable
Mining News Pro - Researchers at the University of Southern California have found that platinum is a key ingredient to help clean even the most stubborn toxins from wastewater.
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Russia stake in biggest Zimbabwe platinum project deters backers
Mining News Pro - Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum project, struggling to get off the ground for the past two years has a new challenge. A major stake held by a Russian tycoon is scaring off potential financiers for the $3 billion mine, people with knowledge of the matter said.
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Johnson Matthey predicts smaller platinum surplus, palladium, and rhodium deficits
Mining News Pro - A surplus in the platinum market should shrink this year and the palladium and rhodium markets are likely to move back into deficit, Johnson Matthey said in a report on Monday.
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Gangs stealing cables miles underground torment South African platinum mines
Mining News Pro - South African miners are battling a growing threat miles underground in the world’s deepest platinum shafts: Gangs stealing copper cables and disrupting operations.
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Platinum catalyst may be the key to reducing methane emissions
Mining News Pro - Researchers at Iowa State University, Purdue University and Johns Hopkins University have found and tested a catalyst technology that appears to be safe and efficient to keep methane out of the atmosphere and make use of the greenhouse gas.
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Platinum offering good relative value as investment
Mining News Pro - Platinum is viewed as an investment case for the moment and is offering good relative value, says Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne.
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Northam Platinum’s headline earnings soar 215%
Mining News Pro - The normalised headline earnings of platinum group metals (PGMs) mining company Northam Platinum soared by more than 215% to R10.9-billion in the 12 months to June 30.
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