SPECIAL FEATURE
The North West has the metals and minerals to help the world go green Palladium is more valuable than gold, and not only in dollars.
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inding new uses for platinum is one of the biggest priorities exercising the minds of the leaders of the South African mining industry as it moves to adapt to a world anxious to distance itself from fossil fuels. Among the innovators and investors looking for new solutions and applications for platinum group metals (PGMs) and other commodities are companies operating in the North West. A neat symbol of the shift in thinking can be found in central Johannesburg where the head office of the Minerals Council South Africa is powered by 40 ounces of platinum and natural gas. The fuel cell (pictured) of the national mine owners’ association is South Africa and Africa’s first base load installation. While there is broad agreement that the world needs to steer away from minerals that pollute the environment, the supply of materials used in electric car manufacture, such as nickel and cobalt, is also finite.
NORTH WEST BUSINESS 2021/22
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Electric vehicles A key reason for a surge in palladium prices at the start of 2021 was increased demand for the metal in the creation of catalytic converters on motor vehicles. The price went past $2 000 per ounce, surpassing the price of gold. Stricter emissions rules in Europe and the US are driving demand. China is planning to impose similar rules. Hybrid cars also need catalytic conver ters but the supply of palladium is not able to keep up with demand. One of the results of this is that car manufacturers are looking at alternatives such as rhodium or platinum. Speaking at the 2019 Investing in African Mining Indaba, Ford’s head of Energy Storage Strategy and Research, Ted J Miller, said that the motor industry was “uncomfortable driving these commodities”. He noted that Ford has already reduced cobalt production by two-thirds, but the challenge is scale.
