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S. Africa’s platinum mining industry has entered a phase of irreversible decline as producers struggle with low prices and demand suffers from the rise of BEVs, Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne said on Friday.

So far this year, gold has surged by about 22%, surpassing $2,500 an ounce, driven by geopolitical uncertainty and expectations of a potential Federal Reserve interest rate cut. In comparison, the S&P 500 has risen by around 18.5% during the same period. Over the past year, the difference is even more noticeable, with the S&P 500 gaining nearly 31% and gold close to 27%.

PGMs are currently mainly used in the catalytic converters of internal combustion engine vehicles, which consume over 70% of supply. The group comprises six white-silver coloured metals including platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium.

The price of a bar of gold is worth a million dollars for the first time, thanks to soaring prices for the precious metal. The price of spot gold reached more than $2,500 per troy ounce Friday, hitting a record high. The average gold bar weighs 400 troy ounces – which, when you do the math, hits a million dollars.

Sublime Systems employed an electrochemical process to break down calcium silicate rocks at ambient temperature. Abundant raw materials were used to create reactive calcium and silicates that were dried and blended into cement. This system exhibited the same final strength and hardened phases as Portland cement.

This slump was largely driven by profit-taking and holders of gold liquidating their positions to cover losses elsewhere in the market. Still, expectations of a U.S. interest-rate cut in September continue to support gold fundamentally, ING analysts said in a note.

South African PGM miners have announced cuts of 500,000 toz production over the next five years.
Wilma Swarts, PGM research director for Metals Focus says the production cuts could end up being much higher — three times higher, in fact.

Technological Breakthroughs Raise Standards in Metal Refining

One of Australia’s top mining journalists Kristie Batten joins Stockhead in her new column placing a closer eye on the movers and shakers of the small cap resources scene.

The gold market has seen significant profit-taking after hitting all-time highs above $2,480 an ounce at the start of the week. While prices may continue to move lower, one bank is warning investors against betting against the precious metal.