Platinum

Platinum to remain in surplus, palladium to move to deficit in 2012 – Johnson Matthey

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By Geoff Candy

GEOFF CANDY: I am joined now by Dr. Jonathan Butler, he is the publications manager at Johnson Matthey and they have just released their Platinum Survey 2012. In 2011,total demand for platinum rose 2% while supply rose to a four-year high, up 7% in total. What were there drivers behind those two moves? Read more

Panoramic moves in on Platinum Australia’s Panton project

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By Ross Louthean

Nickel and copper miner Panoramic Resources Ltd (ASX:PAN) has acquired the long-held Panton platinum group metals (PGM) project north of Halls Creek in Western Australia’s Kimberley.

The project on the Panton Sill was rated as the first major PGM discovery in Australia decades ago Read more

Platinum in desperate need of a game changer

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By Christy Filen

Unless there is a real, game-changing shift in South African production, there is a danger of the structural surpluses now present in the platinum market becoming ‘hardwired’ into the system.

This is the view of Paul Walker, head of Precious Metals at Thomson Reuters GFMS, who says there is a degree of rigidity Read more

Anglo’s Platinum Output Falls 24%, Iron Ore Gains 17%

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By Carli Cooke

Anglo American Plc (AAL), the biggest platinum producer, said output of the metal fell 24 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier after it shut a plant for maintenance, with fewer safety stoppages stemming the drop.

Refined platinum production retreated to 402,800 ounces in the three months through March because of planned annual maintenance at a converting plant in Rustenburg, Read more

With global economic upheaval, an historic rise in precious metals. A conversation with CPM Group’s Jeffrey Christian

Exclusive to resourceINTELLIGENCE

Jeffrey M. Christian is the Managing Director and founder of CPM Group. Under his direction the company has become one of the world’s foremost authorities on the markets for precious and other metals, foreign exchange markets and commodities derivatives. Jeff has written and spoken extensively about precious metals and commodities markets, as well as world financial and economic conditions. He has been involved in much of the pioneering work applying economic analysis and econometrics to commodities markets, as well as efforts to improve the quality of commodities market research. Mr. Christian created CPM Group in June 1986, when he and his associates within the Commodities Research Group in the Goldman, Sachs Investment Research Department left that company as a unit to set up an independent research company.

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South Africa’s PGM production plummets

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By Peter Koven

South Africa produces three quarters of the world’s platinum, and is also the second largest producer of palladium (known together as the platinum group metals, or PGMs). So production fluctuations in the African nation can have an enormous impact on global supply.

That seems to be happening right now. Read more

South African government takes big step into platinum mining

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By Sherilee Lakmidas

South Africa’s government will invest $420-million (U.S.) into a public-private platinum (PL-FT  1,641.50  18.80  1.16%) venture with Pallinghurst Resources Ltd. that has ambitions to become the world’s third-largest producer of the precious metal.

The partnership, which includes the local Bakgatla Ba Kgafela tribe, has a production target of 1.1 million ounces within the next five years. That would make it the biggest producer behind Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum. Read more

Platinum tops gold ahead of key U.S. Fed meeting

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By Amanda Cooper

Platinum rallied for a fifth day in a row on Tuesday, its longest streak of gains since October that took the price above that of gold for the first time in six months, while gold itself fell below $1,700 an ounce ahead of a U.S. rate decision later.

The price of platinum has gained more than 20 percent so far this year, propelled by supply disruptions in South Africa, Read more

Impala Unit Sees 30 Years of Output From Zimbabwe Platinum Mines

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By Godfrey Marawanyika and Brian Latham

Zimplats Holdings Ltd. (ZIM), a unit of the world’s second-largest platinum miner, expects its mines in Zimbabwe to produce the precious metal for at least 30 years, according to Chief Operating Officer Stanley Segula.

“We’re looking at over 30 years of life and at least one million ounces of platinum a year in the areas which we have so far explored,” Segula told reporters and lawmakers visiting the company’s Ngezi mine, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) southeast of the capital, Harare, today. Read more

Are South Africa’s new platinum and silver ETNs exciting?

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By Christy Filen

Fresh off the end of a costly six week strike at Impala platinum’s Rustenburg operations, investors may be scouting around for exposure to the platinum price without the concomitant risks of mining the metal. Read more

Implats strike costs $322 million, 120,000 platinum ounces

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Impala Platinum said that a crippling illegal strike at its key Rustenburg operation has now cost it 120,000 ounces in lost platinum group metals production, which equates to 2.4 billion rand ($322 million) in lost revenue.

Johan Theron, a senior executive at Implats, also told Reuters on Friday that the operation Read more

Platinum closing the gap on gold

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By Lawrence Williams

One little-remarked effect on the huge sell-offs seen in gold and silver prices, the platinum price – which unusually fell back below gold to the tune of nearly $200 an ounce at one time – has been closing the gap on gold quite substantially.  At the time of writing the gap is a mere $16, suggesting that, barring a very quick recovery in the gold price, platinum could be trading at a premium to the yellow metal again very shortly. Read more

Jewellery demand makes China top global platinum consumer

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By Shivom Seth

Global recession or not, China has remained the world’s largest platinum consumer in 2011. Net demand for platinum among Chinese consumers last year was 1.325 million ounces, or 10% more than the previous year, with the jewellery industry predicting that its proportion of the strong trend is expected to last all through 2012. Read more

RBPlat May Spend Surplus Cash for First Time to Fund Platinum Mine Project

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By Carli Cooke

Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd. (RBP), a South African producer of the metal, may resort to using surplus cash for the first time to fund its Styldrift I project after prices weakened and costs climbed.

This year will be “challenging, from both a market and operational perspective,” the Johannesburg-based company said today in a statement. The cost of sales rose 50 percent in 2011 from a year earlier, including a 38 percent increase for labor, its biggest single expense. Platinum prices have lost 6.2 percent in the past six months to $1,708.13 an ounce. Read more

Platinum paper surges amid fears Implats dispute may spread

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By  Christy Filen

Platinum and palladium exchange traded commodities (ETC) are surging on the back of violent strikes at Impala Platinum’s Rustenburg operations.

ETF Securities said that platinum ETCs had recorded weekly Read more

RECOGNIZED: Golder goes platinum in ReNew Canada rankings

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Golder Associates has been awarded a platinum badge designation by ReNew Canada magazine for its involvement in 14 of this year’s top 100 Canadian infrastructure projects. The combined value of the 14 projects is over $17 billion.

Golder is currently working on infrastructure projects in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. One project is the Niagara tunnel project that will add electrical generating capacity. Another is the deep geological repository, Read more

Platinum price looking cheap but, Europe still with swing vote

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By Geoff Candy

Between 1987 and August 2011, platinum closed at a discount to gold on only 123 trading days out of a total of 6,413. In the last third of last year, however, the sight of an ounce of platinum trading at a discount to gold became decidedly more common. But, when last week the discount hit records above $220, a few eyebrows were raised. Read more

Zimbabwe considering a ban on raw platinum exports

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By  Nelson Banya

Zimbabwe is considering a ban on raw platinum exports in a bid to force miners to set up refineries in the country, but this move will not take place “overnight”, a government official said on Wednesday. Read more

Platinum 2012 Outlook Bleak

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By Christy Filen

According to a report on the sector released by RBC Capital Markets today, with total costs continuing to increase to just under the US$1400/oz level compared to the current basket price of approximately US$1230/oz a further margin squeeze is on the cards. Read more

Is platinum due for a price rerating?

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By Ross Norman

The recent global stock market sell-off has not spared the PGM markets. During the August-September period, from peak to trough, gold fell 15% while platinum, the rarer precious metal, fell 22%. Year-to-date to 10 October, gold rose 18% while platinum fell 14%. At $1,537 per troy ounce, platinum bought only 0.91 ounce of gold today, the lowest level since at least 1987, according to Bloomberg. Read more

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