Archive | Platinum Group Metals

Palladium Smashes $1,500 as Shortages Ignite Record-Breaking Rally – by Ranjeetha Pakiam (Bloomberg News – February 20, 2019)

February 20, 2019 in Africa Mining, Europe Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Metals and Manufacturing, Norilsk Nickel, Platinum Group Metals

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Palladium surged above $1,500 an ounce to a record, extending a powerful rally that’s been driven by an acute shortage of supply as car manufacturers scramble to get hold of the material to meet stringent emissions controls.

Spot palladium surged as much as 1.7 percent to $1,505.46 an ounce, and traded at $1,488.20 at 10:08 a.m. in New York. Prices are set for a seventh straight monthly gain. The advance will benefit top suppliers in Russia and South Africa. In other precious metals, gold rallied to a 10-month high, while silver and platinum both climbed.

Palladium, a silvery-white metal used to curb emissions from gasoline-fueled vehicles, has tripled since January 2016. Citigroup Inc. said this month that further gains may be in store, warning the market will only balance with a shock to demand. Prices may hit $1,600, the bank forecasts. Continue Reading →

The diesel emissions scandal helped make palladium more valuable than gold – by Natasha Frost (Quartz.com – January 23, 2019)

January 24, 2019 in International Media Resource Articles, Metals and Manufacturing, Platinum Group Metals

https://qz.com/

Palladium prices have never known such glittering heights. The silvery-white precious metal is now $1,351.40 an ounce: more expensive than gold ($1,283.75 an ounce) or platinum ($792.30 an ounce), and just a little cheaper than iridium ($1,460 an ounce) and rhodium ($2,460).

As Bloomberg reports, palladium has surged around 50% in the past four months. A decade ago, it cost less than $200 an ounce.

About 80% of all palladium winds up in the exhaust systems of cars—it helps turn nasty pollutants into more benign water vapor and carbon dioxide. (The metal has also occasionally been used for jewelry, particularly during World War II, where a scarcity of platinum led it to be used in wedding bands.) Continue Reading →

Palladium Tops $1,400 First Time Ever On ‘Avaricious’ Demand – by Allen Sykora (Kitco News – January 17, 2019)

January 17, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Metals and Manufacturing, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Palladium – described as a tight market for some time now due to robust automotive demand – topped $1,400 an ounce for the first time ever on Thursday. A desk trader in the physical market said that at one point, palladium suddenly rocketed ahead by around $80 in three hours. Another dealer said prices then eased on profit-taking, but he looks for another test of $1,400.

Spot palladium was $32.75 higher to $1,389.55 an ounce as of 11:11 a.m. EST. The metal peaked just above $1,431 overnight. This was $136 higher than the session peak in spot gold.

“Supplies [of palladium] are pretty much what they were, but demand has been avaricious over the past year,” said Bill O’Neill, one of the principals with LOGIC Advisors, in an interview with Kitco News. “As a result, we have soaring palladium prices and a premium to gold.” Continue Reading →

Platinum price fall worsening plight of job-intensive mines – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – January 16, 2019)

January 16, 2019 in Africa Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Platinum Group Metals

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The latest fall of the platinum price is threatening to become the last straw that broke the camel’s back for some deep labour-intensive platinum group metals (PGMs) mines on particularly the western limb of the Bushveld Complex, Mining Weekly Online can today report.

Well ahead of the latest price decimation, platinum company CEOs were expressing concern about the lossmaking position of western limb PGMs mines, which account for 55% of South Africa’s platinum production and provide 136 000 direct mining jobs.

At the time of going to press, the platinum price was $801/oz, which even rand conversion is unable to embellish to an acceptable level. As long ago as February 2012, the then Anglo American Platinum CEO, Neville Nicolau, was unequivocal about $1 900/oz being essential for the capital investment required to maintain long-term production. Continue Reading →

Pimco Favors ‘Unloved’ Platinum That’s Looking Cheap Versus Gold – by Ranjeetha Pakiam (Bloomberg News – January 16, 2019)

January 16, 2019 in International Media Resource Articles, Metals and Manufacturing, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Platinum could be the dark horse among precious metals, according to a money manager at Pacific Investment Management Co.

Nic Johnson, Pimco’s managing director and portfolio manager for commodities, says he prefers the metal over gold. Used in autocatalysts of diesel engines and jewelry, it’s near the cheapest ever relative to both bullion and palladium, after tumbling 14 percent last year.

While investors have poured into gold funds, they’ve deserted platinum, which has fallen out of favor amid shrinking demand and excess supply. The possibility the trend reverses even slightly represents a buying opportunity, Johnson said in an interview from Newport Beach, California. With $1.72 trillion under management as of September, Pimco is one of the world’s largest bond managers. Continue Reading →

Palladium Still Isn’t Pricey Enough – by David Fickling (Bloomberg News – January 10, 2019)

January 11, 2019 in International Media Resource Articles, Metals and Manufacturing, Platinum Group Metals

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Platinum’s lesser-known cousin keeps going from strength to strength. Palladium, once considered an unattractive by-product of platinum mining until the rise of catalytic converters in the 1970s, is hitting new records.

Spot metal peaked at an all-time high $1,344.41 a troy ounce Wednesday. Over the past month, it’s been more costly than gold, which hasn’t happened since 2002. From a point a decade ago when an ounce of platinum bought you more than 5 ounces of palladium, it now buys you about 0.6 ounces.

You might think this spike will spark an immediate reversal and slump, as is often the case with commodity prices. That may not happen, though, because prices still aren’t high enough to prompt a supply surge. Continue Reading →

Palladium Just Smashed Another Record – by Elena Mazneva and Yuliya Fedorinova (Bloomberg News – January 8, 2019)

January 8, 2019 in International Media Resource Articles, Metals and Manufacturing, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Palladium’s premium to platinum jumped to a record, building on its ranking as the best-performing metal of 2018.

Shortages of the metal used in autocatalysts for gasoline-fueled vehicles sent its price to yet another all-time high, widening the price difference with rival platinum to more than $500 an ounce on Tuesday. Most analysts don’t see supply relief for palladium anytime soon.

Both metals are used in catalytic converters to reduce vehicle emissions. Platinum, the more expensive of the two for most of this century, has seen usage decline from its key consumers, diesel carmakers. Demand slid as consumers turned away from diesel vehicles in the wake of Volkswagen AG’s emissions-cheating scandal. Continue Reading →

Why this precious metal (Palladium) is worth more than gold right now – by Lucy Dean (Yahoo Finance – December 17, 2018)

December 19, 2018 in International Media Resource Articles, Platinum Group Metals

https://au.finance.yahoo.com/

Most commonly used for cars’ exhaust systems, palladium has recently shot above gold in price. Earlier this month palladium scooted in front of gold for the first time in 16 years, and held this position for three days.

The record-breaking rally came after its price surged more than 50 per cent in four months, as demand grew and supply shrank. The precious metal is most commonly used to reduce cars’ exhaust emissions. As it’s a noble metal it’s resistant to corrosion. The silvery metal is a byproduct of mining other metals like gold and was previously considered worthless.

Most of it is produced from Russian nickel mining and South African platinum mining. Car manufacturers love it because it converts harmful carbon monoxide into less harmful substances. Continue Reading →

Norilsk Nickel to invest $12bn in production over next five years – by Nastassia Astrasheuskaya (Financial Times – December 10, 2018)

December 11, 2018 in Copper, Europe Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Norilsk Nickel, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.ft.com/

Russia’s metals and mining major Norilsk Nickel plans to invest more than $12bn in production development over the next five years in order to boost production volumes, the company’s chief executive officer Vladimir Potanin said Monday.

The world’s largest producer of palladium, and one of the leading producers of nickel, platinum and copper, thus signalled a change of strategy from flat output to growth amid stronger global demand for its products.

“We are implementing a rather unprecedented investment programme: we are investing more than $12 billion in production development in the next five years,” Mr Potanin told Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in a meeting, according to the Kremlin transcript. Continue Reading →

Palladium Threatens Gold’s Reign as Most Precious Metal – by Amrith Ramkumar (Wall Street Journal – December 2018)

December 5, 2018 in Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.wsj.com/

Gold and palladium prices have narrowed to their closest proximity since 2002

A rare silvery-white material is close to dethroning gold as the most valuable precious metal. Palladium, which is used to filter emissions in gasoline car engines, has climbed to record highs recently. Prices are up more than 25% since the start of August and about 10% for the year, making the metal one of the market’s best-performing assets of 2018.

Meanwhile, gold is down about 5% for the year, with investors preferring the safety of the dollar and U.S. Treasurys amid market volatility. A stronger dollar makes metals denominated in the currency more expensive for overseas buyers, while the prospect of higher interest rates makes gold less attractive than interest-bearing assets.

These dynamics can affect palladium as well. But it has been boosted by projections showing supply shortages and steady auto demand. Continue Reading →

Zimbabwe sees no radical change for platinum, diamond ownership (Reuters Africa – November 26, 2018)

November 27, 2018 in Africa Mining, Diamond Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Platinum Group Metals

https://af.reuters.com/

LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe does not plan to change its ownership rules for diamonds and platinum, its mining minister said on Monday, denting hopes among some miners the country will open up ownership as it announces mineral frameworks in coming weeks.

Zimbabwe in March changed its empowerment law limiting the rules that mandate majority state ownership to diamond and platinum mines, rather than to the mining sector as a whole.

Speaking on the sidelines of an investment conference in London, Minister of Mines and Mining Development Winston Chitando told Reuters there would be “no change” for diamonds and platinum when asked about industry speculation the indigenisation rules could be relaxed further. Continue Reading →

China’s Fight Against Smog Makes Palladium 2018’s Best Metal – by Marvin G Perez (Bloomberg News – November 18, 2018)

November 19, 2018 in International Media Resource Articles, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.bloomberg.com/

(Bloomberg) — Palladium prices are shattering record highs, and investors are betting that tight supplies mean the bull run is just getting started.

The metal, used in pollution-control devices in cars, has jumped almost 9 percent this year in New York, the best performance among major metals. Demand is roaring thanks to China, which is on a mission to reduce smog emissions. Tougher pollution standards mean carmakers are using more of the commodity in catalytic converters.

Global palladium production is falling short of the robust demand, and market forecasters including Citigroup Inc. are projecting further price gains ahead. Hedge funds are also wagering on an extended rally, with the biggest positive bet on the metal since early March. Continue Reading →

Lonmin and state oppose mining forum’s court bid against Sibanye takeover – by Allan Seccombe (Business Day – October 22, 2018)

October 22, 2018 in Africa Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.businesslive.co.za/

Lobby group demands the platinum miner first complies with its social and labour plans

A court challenge to stop Sibanye-Stillwater’s R5bn takeover of Lonmin by challenging the platinum miner’s adherence to a social and labour plan was branded as deeply flawed and misleading by Lonmin.

The department of mineral resources, which stands accused by Mining Forum of SA and its president Blessings Ramoba of being ineffectual in its dealings with Lonmin’s social and labour plans, acted equally as angrily as the platinum miner, requesting the court in its affidavit to throw the matter out and order “punitive costs” against the forum and Ramoba.

The forum and Ramoba argued that Lonmin “never complied with its statutory obligations over the years of conducting its operations”. “It has been able [to] successfully evade its obligations principally because of the lack of effective policing by the department of mineral resources,” they said. Continue Reading →

Platinum Miners Their Own Worst Enemies: Joburg Mining Update – by Felix Njini and Paul Burkhardt(Bloomberg News – October 3, 2018)

October 4, 2018 in Africa Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.bloomberg.com/

South African mining executives, investors and officials gather in the nation’s economic hub for the Joburg Indaba conference, a week after Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe published the government’s new Mining Charter.

It’s been a tough couple of years for South African mining, from regulatory uncertainty and legal fights with the government, to thousands of job cuts announced across the industry. National gold production has declined for 10 straight months.

Here are the latest developments, updated throughout the day. (Time-stamps are local time in Johannesburg.)

Platinum Mea Culpa (5 p.m.)

Platinum miners hurt themselves over the past decade by failing to notice and respond quickly enough to dwindling demand for the metal, according to the head of the world’s top producer. Continue Reading →

Lonmin ends Canada prospects as it cleans house before Sibanye takeover – by Alan Seccombe (Business Day – October 1, 2018)

October 2, 2018 in Africa Mining, Canada Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Ontario Mining, Platinum Group Metals, Sudbury Basin

https://www.businesslive.co.za/

By selling its 6.8% stake in Wallbridge, Lonmin is ensuring a stronger balance sheet and a tidier company for the new owners

As the takeover of Lonmin by Sibanye-Stillwater draws closer, the world’s third-largest platinum miner continues to tidy its investment portfolio and add cash to its balance sheet.

Lonmin has agreed to sell its 6.8% stake in Canada’s Wallbridge Mining for $4m to Eric Sprott, who will now hold more than 16% of the exploration and mining company through one of his companies.

Lonmin is the subject of a friendly all-share takeover bid by Sibanye, with key conditions including approval from SA’s Competition Tribunal following a highly conditional recommendation from the Competition Commission, yes votes from shareholders in both companies and court approval in the UK. Continue Reading →