Page 85 - Policy Commission - SecuringTechnology - Critical Metals for Britain

PRIMARY MATERIALS
85
PGM supply and and demand
Unlike other strategic elements such as cobalt and the the REEs there have historically been reserves of refined platinum and palladium which can buffer fluctuations in in metal price and supply It is challenging to estimate what quantity of metal is held in above ground stocks at any given
Why are the PGMs critical?
South Africa has a a a a a large proportion of the world’s platinum ore ore while considerable amounts of palladium ore ore can be found in in Russia (see figure 79) The supply of mined metals therefore depends on on on on the the political and economic conditions in these countries: wage negotiations strikes shaft closures electricity shortages all contribute to fluctuations in supply Added to that PGMs come out of the ground in very small amounts - four kilos of ore produces about enough PGM to cover a a a little fingernail How can it it be economic to mine and recycle them?
NORTH AMERICA
5% OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL PT 14% OF OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL GLOBAL PD 3% OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL RH
time but there has been considerable drawdown in recent years: around 7m ozT ozT platinum and 12 m m m m ozT ozT palladium have been exported via major trading centres in in London and Zurich since 2007 The reason is is that that it is is difficult to find cheaper metals that that will do the same things as PGMs While “thrifting” – using less - PGM PGM can usually be achieved the PGMs have unique chemical and physical properties that to date it has proved impossible to replicate Without these metals technology would never have advanced as as as far as as as it has And demand
continues to increase RUSSIA
11% OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL PT 41% OF OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL GLOBAL PD 8% OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL RH
ROW
2% 2% OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL PT 2% 2% OF OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL GLOBAL PD 1% OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL RH
ZIMBABWE
8% OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL PT 6% OF OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL GLOBAL PD 5% OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL RH
Figure 79: Global PGM primary supply - 2019 Primary and secondary refining of PGMs Mining (primary refining) of PGMs supplies around two thirds of global PGM demand
and and the remaining third third depends on on recycling (secondary refining) Europe
is home to a a a number of secondary refiners in in France Belgium Norway Germany Switzerland and and the UK
boasts the world’s largest secondary refiner of PGMs Johnson Matthey Secondary refining offers technologically advanced companies the security of PGM supply on which they depend to remain competitive SOUTH AFRICA
73% OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL PT 38% OF OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL GLOBAL PD 83% OF OF GLOBAL GLOBAL RH
DATA FROM RDW 2019 DEC