PGM Facts

The Platinum Group Metals (PGM) comprise six chemically similar elements:

PGM have a wide variety of industrial uses, their primary application being in automobile catalytic converters. PGM possess unique properties rendering them indispensable for a variety of specialized applications including excellent catalytic qualities, resistance to corrosion and chemical inertness over a wide range of temperatures, and high melting points.

Other uses include petroleum refining catalysts, fuel cell thermocouples, dental alloys, multi-layer ceramic capacitors, computer hard drives and jewelry.

One member of the PGM may be substituted for another when they are alloyed. However, substitution by other metals is plagued with difficulties.

There are very few economic PGM deposits in the world. The largest are in South Africa and Russia. These two countries combined account for more than ninety percent (90%) of world PGM production. Additional sources of PGM exist in the United States and Canada.

South Africa (Bushveld Igneous Complex) and the United States (Stillwater Complex) are the only significant sources of primary PGM production. Both Russia (Noril’sk Complex) and Canada (Sudbury Complex) produce PGM as a by-product of nickel-copper mining. Accordingly, Russian and Canadian producers manage their PGM output based on the supply-demand realities of their highest revenue product – nickel. South Africa produces a higher proportion of platinum while the United States and Russia produce a higher proportion of palladium. Overall PGM concentrations in the Bushveld Complex average 6 to 10 grams per tonne with an average 20 grams per tonne being found in the Stillwater Complex.