South Africa has sufficient platinum group metals (PGMs) reserves to sustain mining activities and investments for over 200 years, according to South African Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe.
The country is the world’s largest PGMs producer, supplying 73% of new platinum, 38% of palladium and 81% of rhodium to the global market in 2023.
“…we are advancing coordinated cooperation between the government and all stakeholders in the PGM industry aimed at creating value for the country’s PGM production and sales,” stated Mantashe in Australia this week.
The South African government has commissioned a new study to assess the state of the mining industry and is developing a Critical Minerals Strategy to serve as a blueprint for future growth, according to the Minister.
He emphasized that the goal is to drive economic growth and modernize infrastructure through the monetization of PGMs.
“The South African mining industry is increasingly diversifying from an era that was associated with gold mining to an industry with a diverse range of mineral resources such as platinum group metals (PGMs), coal, gold, copper, manganese, vanadium and other natural resources that are considered critical for the just transition,” Mantashe said.
South Africa also holds the world’s largest reserves of manganese.
