Rhodium: Extraction

A metal with no mine of its own

Rhodium has no mines of its own. It makes up a small fraction of the PGM content of Bushveld and Great Dyke reefs and of Norilsk nickel ores, and is separated late in the refining sequence. Nassar and colleagues treat it as a companion of platinum, the host metal (pdf p. 6), so rhodium output is set by how much platinum-bearing ore South African miners choose to hoist. Separation is slow and complex, and refined rhodium can emerge months after the ore is mined. That rigidity, combined with tiny volumes, explains much of its price behaviour.

Rhodium is never mined for itself. It occurs at a fraction of a gram per tonne alongside platinum and palladium, and comes mostly from deep underground mines on South Africa's Bushveld Complex, plus Norilsk in Russia (a nickel-copper by-product), the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe and smaller sources in North America. Ore is concentrated, smelted and refined in long chains that take months. A growing share of supply comes from recycling spent autocatalysts. Because the mines are run for the whole PGM basket, rhodium output is set by platinum and palladium economics, which makes it one of the most volatile commodities.

Methods compared

How each method works

Narrow reefs are mined underground by conventional drill-and-blast or mechanised methods, often at great depth. UG2 ore is relatively rich in rhodium. Concentrate is smelted to matte and refined into individual PGMs. Chromite is recovered from UG2 tailings as a by-product.

Largest reserves (63,000 t PGMs, USGS); deep, labour-intensive mines with high costs and power supply problems.

Massive nickel-copper sulphide ores are mined and smelted for nickel and copper; PGMs collect in residues and are refined separately. Rhodium output follows nickel and palladium production.

Low incremental cost; Russian supply faces sanctions and lower ore grades (USGS).

A long, thin PGM layer in the Great Dyke is mined underground and by shallow open pits; concentrate or matte is shipped to South Africa for refining.

Shallower mines; depends on South African refineries and Zimbabwean policy.

Scrap converters are de-canned, and the ceramic is milled and smelted with collector metals; the PGM-rich alloy is refined like mine output.

Above-ground supply that grows with scrapped cars; it fell in 2023-24 and has been slow to recover (Johnson Matthey).

By-product supply

Rhodium is about 95% a companion metal of platinum (Nassar et al. 2015): mines are planned around the whole PGM basket, and in South Africa rhodium makes up only a small share of ounces. Higher rhodium prices therefore barely raise mine output, which is set by platinum and palladium economics, power supply and mine closures. Johnson Matthey attributes the 50 koz deficit in 2025 to reduced South African and North American supply after rationalisation and closures, plus slow recovery in recycling.

Share produced as a by-product

Who does it: global

Who does it: India

India has no PGM mining or primary refining and imports all its rhodium, mainly in autocatalysts and catalyst-grade metal; rhodium is on India's 2023 critical minerals list. No Indian volumes were found.