Platinum-boosting coin, reserve currency plans being revisited

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Plans to produce platinum coins and instate platinum as a reserve currency are being revisited to boost demand for the precious metal, leveraging off what have been long-standing demand-boosting mechanisms for gold.

Mining Weekly Online can today report that strong corporate voices are again being raised to ensure that more is done to increase demand for platinum.

Dust is being wiped off concepts like minting Mandela coins in platinum, leveraging off South Africa’s great success with gold Krugerrands, as well as promoting platinum's store-of-wealth potential as a reserve currency, in accordance with International Monetary Fund and World Bank rules.

Both steps would create significant new demand for platinum, which this month saw its price plummet from $980/oz to $890/oz, threatening tens of thousands of mining jobs.

At the time of going to press, the platinum price was still in the doldrums at $920/oz.

Observers see such steps has having long-term benefit for platinum-group metals (PGMs), with opportunity for government participation in their revival to preserve jobs.

The special economic zones in the process of being established by South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry are also seen as ideal development grounds for the manufacture of platinum-using hydrogen fuel cells.

While the rise in the palladium price is helping the overall PGMs basket price, South Africa’s ratio of platinum to palladium is heavily weighted in favour of platinum and while the rise in the rhodium price has been strong, it has not been sufficient to move the price needle significantly.

The strong rand is putting the rand platinum price 5% below where it was this time last year, adding to the burden of South Africa’s 6% to 8% inflation rate.

It is widely stated that more than half of South Africa’s platinum industry is lossmaking at the current rand basket price for PGMs.

The uncertain political environment both domestically and globally is having a hugely negative impact on the platinum mining business.

However, even during this tough downturn, most of the platinum industry is continuing to invest in growing PGM demand.

Most of that investment is in Platinum Guild International, which promotes platinum jewellery, in the World Platinum Investment Council, which promotes platinum investment, and by individual companies engaged in the development of industrial applications for platinum, including fuel cells.