3rd August 2011

I have seen references to platinum and palladium being amongst the rarest, or least abundant, elements on Earth. What does this mean for platinum supplies?

In terms of the relative abundance of chemical elements in the Earth’s crust, platinum and palladium are found in abundances of approximately 1 part per billion and 0.6 parts per billion respectively, making them the 75th and 76th most abundant elements in the earth’s crust, in other words very rare (Emsley, 2001).  

However, geological abundance is not a very meaningful measure in the context of supplies. It is a rather crude measure of the occurrence of a particular element in the earth's crust. Calculating abundance involves making generalisations on the concentration of an element in a certain rock type then further broad assumptions on how frequently that rock type is found in the earth's crust.

The resulting estimate tells us little about whether the element is found in economically recoverable proven reserves or potential resources.

This is especially pertinent for platinum group metals. As Professor Grant Cawthorn of the University of Witswatersrand points out in a recent paper, platinum group metals and especially platinum are unusual in that they are largely concentrated in a single location, the Bushveld complex of South Africa. Around three quarters of platinum supplies came from South Africa in 2010. The remainder came from mines in other geographically discrete locations such as Arctic Russia and the Canadian Shield.

Rather than considering abundance, a more meaningful measure in terms of platinum supplies is to look at reserves and resources. Proven reserves of platinum as reported by mining companies in South Africa extend to decades using current mining techniques. Platinum resources extend even further than reserves; according to Cawthorn the Bushveld complex of South Africa contains 350 million ounces of platinum per 1 km of depth, meaning that world demand could be satisfied for many decades to come using current mining techniques.

References:

'Nature’s Building Blocks', John Emsley, Oxford University Press, 2001, p.308 and p.322

'The Platinum Group Element Deposits of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa', R. G. Cawthorn, Platinum Metals Rev., 2010, 54, (4), 205-215; doi:10.1595/147106710X520222

http://www.platinummetalsreview.com/dynamic/article/view/54-4-205-215

http://www.platinummetalsreview.com/pdf/205-215-pmr-oct10.pdf