Platinum
Platinum is a dense, unreactive catalyst metal for diesel exhausts, chemicals and glass, mined mostly from South Africa's Bushveld Complex.
Precious metals · No. 23
- EU strategic
- EU critical 2023
- US critical 2025
- India critical 2023
- HHI 5,193 · highly concentrated
One Bushveld mine hauls up 200,000 tons of rock a month to win just four to seven grams of platinum per ton.
Chart: Illustration: Platinum
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Platinum lies in thin reefs within layered igneous rocks, above all South Africa's Bushveld Complex and Zimbabwe's Great Dyke, often mined deep underground.
Three things to know
- In real 2010 dollars platinum's price nearly halved, from $1,610 in 2010 to $830 in 2024, as diesel cars lost ground.
- South Africa holds 63 of the world's 76 million kg of platinum-group metal reserves.
- Recycled platinum carries a footprint of about 477 t CO2e per tonne, a tiny fraction of mined metal.
The journey
- 1 Reef oreA few grams per ton, deep underground
- 2 ConcentrateCrushed and floated
- 3 SmeltingMelted into nickel-copper matte
- 4 RefiningBase and precious metals separated
- 5 End usesCatalysts, glass, jewellery, fuel cells