Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) are vital industrial metals valued for their durability, corrosion resistance and catalytic properties.
PGMs, consist of platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium
The automotive industry is the world's largest consumer of PGMs, which are used in catalytic converters for vehicle exhaust systems. Other drivers of demand are jewellery, industrial uses and investment. Of late, the hydrogen economy has gained significantly more prominence. PGMs will play a vital role in furthering this opportunity for using PGMs in various applications, such as fuel cells for mobility and electricity generation.
RUTHENIUM
44
Ru
RHODIUM
45
Rh
PALLADIUM
46
Pd
OSMIUM
76
Os
IRIDIUM
77
Ir
PLATINUM
78
Pt
Numbers denote periodic table atomic numbers
- South Africa hosts approximately 80% of the world’s PGM, with Zimbabwe being a major producer, due to it hosting the Great Dyke.
- The Great Dyke is a PGM bearing geological feature that runs from north to south direction, and it is approximately 550 km in length and up to 11 km wide, second to the Bushveld Complex of South Africa in terms of its PGM resource base.
- It is sub divided into distinct sub chambers, namely the Musengezi, Darwendale, Sebakwe, Wedza and Selukwe sub chambers.
Figure 1: Illustrative location of the Karo Platinum Project
