Fields emerging that need the catalysis platinum group metals can provide

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A wide range of industries, which require considerable production volumes that platinum group metals (PGMs) can help to provide, are being developed and ramped up, such as in the production of ammonia, methanol or e-fuels, says SFA Oxford CEO Henk de Hoop.

As that ramps up in coexistence with other PGM-consuming industries in the hydrogen fuel cell sector, new sectors of demand are expected to become increasingly important for PGMs, adds De Hoop, who was talking to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"Some PGM catalyst manufacturers are starting to develop their own core business initiatives in the hydrogen economy to offset some of the maturation of their own vehicle exhaust catalyst businesses.

"We now need to get a good handle on the scale of new demand for palladium that can emerge, and for rhodium – although for rhodium, it's probably less clear at this stage than it is for palladium.

“We see a lot of activity and companies wanting to enter into the recycling chain. It's already quite busy on the catalyst side for the exhaust business and even in the oil refining business, many closed loops are already in place and companies wanting to enter recycling to secure metal for their future operations as well.

"PGMs are very recyclable. There are processes where some of the PGMs get lost, but, for example, the exhaust catalysts collection systems are already working very efficiently. There's value in them. There's an economic process that is followed through the chain globally. There's a lot of trade in it, and although there will be further improvements to a certain extent, it probably won't be much beyond the current recycling systems already in place. However, there are also a lot of companies already looking into what future applications will consume and how these can be recycled," De Hoop, who was interviewed on some of the takeaways from this year’s SFA Oxford platinum lectures, points out.

Carbon dioxide emissions from recycled PGMs are up to 95% lower than for freshly mined PGMs, which is putting focus on recycled ounces and already one carmaker wants only recycled PGMs from 2030.