AT THIS week’s mining lekgotla, the future of the currently suppressed platinum industry is likely to be a key agenda item. Whether fuel cell technology takes off is a critical determinant of what this future might look like.In its latest set of facts and figures, the Chamber of Mines states that "despite the significant role and contribution of the platinum mining sector to the South African economy, the industry is currently in a challenging position".It cites the combined effect of slowing global demand, market surpluses and associated declining prices, increasing production costs and the effect of continued labour relations strife as specific challenges.The chamber also highlights weakness of demand for catalytic converters in Europe. Combined with some substitution of platinum by palladium — a challenge because of palladium’s much lower price — this suppressed demand suggests a break-even marginal return to platinum of $1,600/oz.In South Africa, about "59% of the industry is ei...
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