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Platinum Group Metals

Is Norilsk Nickel too big to sanction? – by Henry Foy and Henry Sanderson (Financial Times – April 19, 2018)

https://www.ft.com/

Is Norilsk Nickel too big to sanction? That is a question on the lips of investors and analysts as they ponder which companies might be next on the White House’s Russian sanctions list.

The company, based in the world’s most northern city that gives the group its name, certainly thinks size might be a key factor in deterring US president Donald Trump from placing one of the biggest metal producers on the list.

Like the large banks in the financial crisis deemed too big to fail, the company may be right in thinking that size matters as its nickel and palladium supplies are crucial to western manufacturers for products from cars to batteries.

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Palladium takes off on fears of US sanctions against Norilsk Nickel – by Brendan Ryan (MiningMx – April 16, 2018)

http://www.miningmx.com/

The palladium price has jumped during the past week over the possibility that the world’s top producer – MMC Norilsk Nickel which is listed on the London Stock Exchange – could be affected by the latest round of US sanctions imposed on Russia.

Norilsk is also the world’s second largest producer of nickel and fourth largest producer of platinum and rhodium which are mined as by-products from its huge mining operations in the Taimyr and Kola peninsulas in northern Russia. Norilsk is also a 50/50 partner with African Rainbow Minerals in the Nkomati nickel/platinum operation in Mpumalanga.

According to John Meyer of UK broker SP Angel, palladium is up 9% – to $986/oz from $975/oz last week – “on the back of supply concerns as the world’s top producer – Russia – faces fresh sanctions imposed by the US. Despite production not being directly hit by the sanctions, the market has been rattled by the inclusion of Russian magnate Oleg Deripaska on the trade blacklist.”

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South Africa’s east platinum belt hit by over 400 social unrest incidents since 2016 – by Ed Stoddard (Reuters U.S. – April 10, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

BURGERSFORT, South Africa (Reuters) – The eastern limb of South Africa’s platinum belt has been hit by over 400 incidents of social unrest impacting mining operations since the start of 2016, according to data compiled by Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and provided to Reuters.

The restive region in the country’s northeast has been a flashpoint of violence rooted in community grievances over jobs, revenue flows and conflict between rival unions that threatens production in the world’s top producer of the precious metal.

Last week six workers were burnt to death in the area when the bus they were on was set alight by a petrol bomb. The bus was transporting them to their shifts at the Modikwa platinum mine operated by African Rainbow Minerals and Amplats.

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The move to EVs will take time, but the shift in commodity demand will be ‘dramatic’ – Gareth Penny (Metal Bulletin – April 4, 2018)

https://www.metalbulletin.com/

In a comprehensive interview with Andrea Hotter in the April 2018 issue of Metal Market Magazine, Norilsk Nickel chairman Gareth Penny gave his predictions for electric and hybrid vehicle growth and how the company will move to maximize the value of its products.

As the electrification of the global economy continues to increase demand for the metals that Norilsk produces, particularly nickel and cobalt, Penny predicts a dramatic shift in commodity demand patterns.

“Like most of these things, the move to EVs will take longer than people think, but when the time arrives, it’ll be even more dramatic,” he says.

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Six miners killed and 44 injured as bus petrol-bombed in Limpopo – by Allan Seccombe (Business Day – April 3, 2018)

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

Some of the mining companies have spoken of a criminal element creeping into protests in an area where unemployment and poverty are high

Six miners and 44 others were hurt in an arson attack on a bus carrying them to the Modikwa Platinum Mine on Monday evening.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), police and the companies that own the mine, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Anglo American Platinum, said the employees were on their way from the Ga-Morga village in Limpopo to the mine on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Igneouss Complex.

The attackers were unknown, as was the motive.

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Post-Mugabe Zimbabwe Mining Rush Leaves Big Producers Behind – by Felix Njini and Brian Latham (Bloomberg News – April 3, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

While Zimbabwe’s leadership change has sparked a race for the nation’s mineral riches among entrepreneurs and tiny explorers, big-name mining companies are taking a wait-and-see approach.

New President Emmerson Mnangagwa has a lot to prove as he seeks to revive the economy and attract mining investment that shriveled under his predecessor, Robert Mugabe. So far, Mnangagwa has pledged investor-friendly policy changes and partially rolled back a law requiring mining companies to be locally owned.

It seems to be working, at least in some quarters. The government says mining commitments reached as much as $6 billion since Mnangagwa’s appointment, including a record $4.2 billion pledge from a company linked to mining entrepreneur Loucas Pouroulis for a platinum mine and associated infrastructure.

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Platinum Mines in the World’s Top Producer Are Shrinking – by Felix Njini and Eddie Van Der Walt (Bloomberg News – March 26, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

“Ramaphoria” boosted the rand and revived investor sentiment on South Africa. But deep underground in the country’s platinum mines, there’s very little cause for optimism.

Producers in South Africa, which accounts for about 70 percent of the world’s mined platinum, are closing shafts and cutting thousands of jobs as a stronger rand combines with stagnating prices for the metal in squeezing profit margins.

The future looks equally bleak, as reduced demand for diesel engines and the rise of electric cars threatens to erode the need for the metal used to cut pollution.

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Zimbabwe hopes to transform mining sector with $4.2 billion platinum deal – by MacDonald Dzirutwe (Reuters U.S. – March 22, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

HARARE (Reuters) – A Cypriot investor signed a $4.2 billion deal on Thursday to develop a platinum mine and refinery in Zimbabwe, an investment that President Emmerson Mnangagwa said showed the country was “open for business”.

Signing the agreement with Cyprus-based Karo Resources, Mines Minister Winston Chitando said work would start in July, with the first output of platinum group metals expected in 2020, aiming to reach 1.4 million ounces annually within three years.

It was unclear, however, where all the funding would come from and analysts said the project start date of July looked very ambitious.

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London Brawl Between Pro-Putin Tycoons Tests Kremlin’s Patience – by Yuliya Fedorinova, Ilya Arkhipov and Irina Reznik (Bloomberg News – March 19, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

They’re two of Russia’s most powerful tycoons, each with a reach that extends into Vladimir Putin’s inner sanctum, and now they’re fighting over one of the country’s most lucrative assets.

The dispute between the billionaires—Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska—runs from Arctic mines to the High Court in London. The legal proceedings provide a glimpse into the rules, written and not, that govern the vast fortunes that exist at the pleasure of the newly re-elected president.

As a British judge prepares to rule on small ownership changes that may have a big impact on Siberian metals titan Norilsk Nickel, initial signs from Kremlin insiders suggest one longtime Putin ally may have an edge over the other.

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Battle to Keep Lonmin Platinum Deal Alive Hinges on the Rand – by Felix Njini (Bloomberg News – March 9, 2018)

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

(Bloomberg) — When Lonmin Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben Magara announced in December that Sibanye Gold Ltd. had agreed to buy the platinum miner, he was visibly relieved. He can’t relax just yet.

To keep the deal alive, Lonmin should avoid burning cash by the time of shareholder votes on the purchase later this year, according to Sibanye.

That may be a tough ask for a company that’s been forced to seek covenant waivers from lenders and has struggled through years of losses, especially as a recently strengthened rand adds further pressure.

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Palladium dubbed ‘unobtainium’, rhodium ‘next palladium’ – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – March 7, 2018)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – While diesel demonisation continues to the detriment of platinum, several key steps that will benefit platinum are poised to be taken in the next 18 to 24 months.

The first of these key steps is the substitution of platinum for palladium in gasoline systems, against the backdrop of palladium being dubbed ‘unobtainium’ because of its growing scarcity.

“They’re struggling with palladium availability and certainly, in our conversations with coaters and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), the predominant conversation is can you secure increasing quantities of palladium and the short answer is ‘no, not right now’,” Impala Platinum (Implats) group executive: refining and marketing Paul Finney said in response to Mining Weekly Online during a media roundtable.

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UPDATE 2-Zimbabwe has potential to meet 20 pct of global lithium demand – by Alfonce Mbizwo (Reuters U.S. – February 28, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

HARARE, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe has the potential to supply 20 percent of the world’s lithium, the mines minister from Africa’s top producer of the alkali metal used in batteries for electric vehicles said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe is keen to attract capital to its mining sector after the ousting last year of former president Robert Mugabe after almost four decades in power and is pushing lithium as a major draw for investors.

“We believe we have the potential to actually account for 20 percent of global demand when all known lithium resources are being exploited,” Winston Chitando told a mining investment conference in the capital, Harare.

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The World’s Cobalt Supply Is In Jeopardy – by Frank Holmes (Forbes Magazine – February 27, 2018)

https://www.forbes.com/

Disney’s Black Panther is in theaters right now, breaking all kinds of box office records and wowing audiences. The film features a fictional, highly-advanced African country known as Wakanda, whose vast wealth and prosperity are derived almost exclusively from the mining of a rare, fantastical metal called vibranium.

In its own colorful way, Black Panther does an excellent job dramatizing mining’s important role in supplying the world with much-needed raw materials. Vibranium is the basis for everything in the film, from the title character’s flashy superhero suit to Wakanda’s otherworldly infrastructure and vehicles, to its futuristic medicine and weaponry.

Like Wakanda, the real Africa is rich in minerals and metals, many of them extremely valuable. Think platinum and palladium in South Africa, diamonds in Botswana, copper in Zambia and cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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Platinum price crashes through $1,000 after German diesel ban – by Frik Els (Mining.com – February 27, 2018)

http://www.mining.com/

Platinum group metals were the hardest hit on generally weak precious metals markets Tuesday after a German court ruled that cities in Europe’s largest economy and world’s fourth largest automaker have the right to ban diesel cars.

The price of platinum were back in triple digit territory on New York futures markets on Wednesday falling 2% to a low of $983 an ounce. Palladium was also weaker at $1,033 an ounce as it continues to retreat from record highs of $1,138 an ounce hit in January.

“We’re witnessing the creeping death of diesel,” Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany told Bloomberg News.

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Unloved Platinum Stocks Show Promise for $45 Billion Manager – by Neo Khanyile (Bloomberg News – February 26, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Some platinum stocks are looking attractive again as oversupply that depressed prices for years subsides, said Allan Gray, the South African money manager that oversees the equivalent of about $45 billion.

Companies that Allan Gray has invested in include world number-two producer Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. and Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd., the best-performing stock in the sector this year in Johannesburg, analyst Rory Kutisker-Jacobson said by phone from Cape Town. Impala said Feb. 21 that the money manager had increased its stake to 20 percent.

South African miners, which account for about 70 percent of the world’s known primary platinum resources, have cut back on spending, gradually erasing an excess of the metal, according to Kutisker-Jacobson.

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