An annual mining conference in South Africa has made the bold prediction that the current impact of the economic downturn on the industry will be short-lived, Mining MX reports today (26th February).

The Mining Indaba at Cape Town, which boasted 1,000 fewer attendees than last year's event, saw mining officials attempting to promote the use of 'optimism' as the latest buzz word.

Their stance is thought to be based on two main factors, namely the fact that there is a shortage of metals around the globe and the ongoing struggle to find enough new material in the earth.

Peter Duncan from leading platinum refiner Johnson Matthey believes that the situation in pgms is stable and that the platinum market, in particular, will be "close to balance" in 2009.

He told the news provider: "I believe market fundamentals will assert themselves. The platinum price possibly fell too far [last year]."

In addition, Kevin Norrish, a Commodities Analyst at Barclays Capital, explained that around 15 to 20 million people will urbanise this year, a situation which is likely to mean that "demand for commodities will continue".

"This difficult phase will pass. In my view we're still in a bull market for metals," he told Mining MX.

"It's as though a bucket of cold water has been thrown over the industry and it's gasping for air."

However, Barclays Capital also notes that 60 per cent of the global copper market cannot offer decent returns for shareholders, while aluminium is increasingly unattractive and $30 billion worth of spending has been halted.

Johnson Matthey noted recently that it expects platinum to trade between $700 and $1,400 per oz in 2009.

Source:

Don't worry. It's just a blip (26/02/09)
http://www.miningmx.com/mining_fin/952890.htm