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  1. 6 HR AGO

    Platinum research head notes demand for precious metals as fiat currency alternatives

    This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. The Trump administration's policies and repeated attacks on the independence of the Federal Reserve are bringing into question the role of the US dollar as the global reserve currency and driving demand for precious metals as fiat currency alternatives. "Whilst gold is the primary focus as a monetary asset, demand is so strong that there is significant spillover into the other precious metals, supporting broad-based price increases. This trend looks unlikely to abate through 2026 "For platinum specifically, three years of substantial deficits have eroded above ground stocks to unsustainably low levels," states World Platinum Investment Council research director Edward Sterck. "This, in combination with robust three-way geographic competition for metal between the US, Europe and China, has resulted in a significant shortage of metal availability in international markets. "This is evidenced by elevated lease rates and strong over-the-counter (OTC) London forward curve backwardation. "Platinum's strong underlying fundamentals offer further support for the price in addition to the broader precious metals trend under way," Sterck adds in a media release dated January 13, which prompted these questions. Mining Weekly: Why should repeated attacks on the independence of the Federal Reserve bring into question the role of the US dollar? Sterck: The independence of the Federal Reserve is crucial for controlling inflation and maintaining economic stability, allowing the Fed to make unpopular but necessary interest rate decisions free from political pressure. The apolitical independence of the Fed is critical to supporting global confidence in the dollar as a safe reserve currency. Signifying the importance of central bank independence, the UK granted the Bank of England operational independence for setting interest rates in May 1997 to remove short-term political influence. Countries that have eliminated the independence of their central banks include Argentina, Russia, Turkey Venezuela and Zimbabwe, with politically forced interest rate cuts then typically resulting in periods of significant inflation and currency devaluation. To what extent is government-issued money under threat? Government issued money isn't under threat, but some are questioning the suitability of the US dollar to continue as the reserve currency of choice and the currency for around 60% of global trade. One thing in the US dollar's favour in this regard is the lack of a strong alternative. Where does platinum rank as a fiat currency alternative in your view? Being physical assets, precious metals are alternatives to fiat/paper currencies. Platinum would rank 2nd/3rd after gold. Why do you expect demand for precious metals as fiat currency alternatives to likely continue through 2026? We're only two weeks into 2026, but events to date suggest the trend will continue given US international posturing, the upcoming S232 investigation results, the USITC Russian palladium anti-dumping investigation and the US mid-term elections. And what's the big takeaway? We have a highly supportive macropolitical environment for the whole of the precious metals complex, but platinum specifically has the added benefit of strong underlying fundaments. Platinum supply and demand are relatively price inelastic, and three years of significant deficits have depleted above ground stocks to unsustainably low levels. The shortage of metal availability is illustrated by historically elevated lease rates and strong forward curve backwardation in the London OTC market. PLATINUM GROUP METAL ONSHORING The US is reportedly net short platinum group metals (PGMs) and tariff fears have led to US onshoring of PGMs beyond users and speculators amid platinum's m

    4 min

  2. 16 HR AGO

    Future Minerals Forum making 'excellent progress' in reaching its goals

    This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. The Future Minerals Conference, the Future Minerals Forum's (FMF's) Ministerial Roundtable and the "largest such gathering of its kind globally", has grown considerably over the past few years, with tangible outcomes and new areas of focus emerging. This was highlighted by Saudi Arabia Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef, delivering the opening remarks at the fifth roundtable iteration in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on January 13. The roundtable kicks off the yearly FMF, being held this week under the auspices of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources. In his remarks, Alkhorayef lauded this as "milestone year", with the roundtable having grown from hosting delegates from 32 countries in its inaugural year, to this year boasting Ministers and senior representatives from over 100 countries and 70 organisations. Moreover, its scope has broadened at the request of supplier countries; while keen interest has been shown by more customer countries to join, showcasing the global relevance of the platform, Alkhorayef averred. TANGIBLE OUTCOMES Alkhorayef acclaimed that "excellent progress" has been made over the past five years, including tackling the financing gap in mineral exploration in collaboration with the World Bank; focus on transparency and traceability in mineral supply and creating a network of centres of excellence. The roundtable was a closed session; however, FMF content and strategy director Aldo Pennini outlined some of the key outcomes and also provided more insight into the progress alluded to by Alkhorayef. Speaking to Mining Weekly, he said planning for establishing centres of excellence started three years ago, with engagements undertaken with governments, academic organisations and research centres from the "Super Region", which spans Africa, west Asia and central Asia. Pennini informed that work to establish the network of centres of excellence is being kickstarted. One would be in South Africa, in collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and other institutions, to establish a talent hub that can link up to the rest of the region. This is in the vein of forming a "web of excellence" that can help countries develop these capabilities, even if they lack the capacity and resources for this, Pennini explained. A sustainability hub is being set up in Morocco, while an innovation hub is being set up in Saudi Arabia hub. There is also work to design a virtual policy hub. Participants at the roundtable welcomed the introduction of a dialogue with industry to the roundtable agenda. The FMF, with support from the group, was requested to develop an initiative for structure dialogue between governments and industry throughout the year, focused on driving investment and responsible supply. It was also recommended that next year's FMF incorporate government-industry workshops to explore common challenges. Work is also progressing on the development of an international copper traceability standard, which is being undertaken by the International Organisation for Standardisation. This pioneer work was catalysed by the roundtable, which submitted a project to the organisation to develop a standard that would cover traceability from the mined ore to the purified metal. A report regarding the standard was presented during the roundtable, with its development expected to take two years. Provided it is approved, the standard at conclusion is expected to enhance supply chain transparency and investor confidence. The sustainability hub in Morocco, alluded to earlier, will coordinate this work. Pennini explained that the standards space is saturated and complex, posing significant challenges for regulators and industry, and this...

    6 min

  3. 16 HR AGO

    Call for Africa to turn fragmented mineral belts into coherent regional value chains

    This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. Africa does not have the luxury of treating regional cooperation and regional beneficiation as afterthoughts. If the continent continues to negotiate in small, fragmented units, the result will be a patchwork of export restrictions and incentive schemes that strain investor confidence without building the connective tissue of shared infrastructure and industrial capacity. If, instead, leaders use projects such as the Lobito Corridor as prototypes for how to align geology, logistics, and industrial policy at a regional scale, the continent can begin to shape global value chains rather than simply feeding into them. This way forward for the continent is advocated for by Absa CIB managing principle and coverage head for resources and energy Shirley Webber and Absa CIB managing executive for public sector growth capital solutions Stephen Seaka, who highlight that regional corridors are needed to bridge Africa's dispersed minerals endowment and report on a trial run on the Lobito Corridor reducing a six-week journey to eight days. "It shows how a corridor can become the organising unit of industrial strategy, because the infrastructure that moves ore and the systems that govern its movement naturally operate beyond national borders. It also forces a more fundamental question onto the table: if the next generation of global industry is going to draw on Africa's critical minerals, what scale of planning can genuinely support that opportunity? In practice, the geology is regional, but industrial policy is still national. Lobito exposes that mismatch and demonstrates how coordinated corridors can begin to bridge it," Webber and Seaka point out. They outline regional cooperation as including tariff alignment, customs procedures, rail and port concessions, environmental and social standards, power-pool governance, dispute-resolution mechanisms and the regulatory treatment of long-term public-private partnerships. They add that regional beneficiation, by contrast, is about where along the value chain different activities are positioned and how those activities are sequenced. Ore can be crushed, concentrated, smelted, refined, turned into precursors, assembled into components and eventually integrated into finished products. Some of these steps require substantial power and water; some are knowledge-intensive; some are highly trade-exposed and shaped by logistics costs, with it seldom making sense to duplicate each step in every country that hosts a deposit. "It's more efficient to map which segments of a copper-cobalt-manganese-lithium chain should sit in which locations along a corridor, then design fiscal regimes, power investments, and skills programmes accordingly. Interestingly, they observe that the continental policy landscape is beginning to move in this direction, which they see as being exemplified by the African Union's Green Minerals Strategy in that it positions critical minerals as a regional industrialisation opportunity and promotes integrated value chains and corridor-based infrastructure planning. Regional economic communities, such as the Southern African Development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Economic Community of Central African States, are held up as examples of sub-continental platforms that could support this kind of coordination. "In practice, turning these frameworks into functioning corridors requires a different discipline from governments. It means treating a corridor as a single planning unit for power, water, data connectivity and skills, even while it traverses several jurisdictions. "It means aligning fiscal terms enough to prevent destructive competition for smelters and refineries, while allowing differentiated incentives where c...

    6 min

  4. 2 DAYS AGO

    Significant 2026 platinum price rise forecast by Bank of America Securities

    This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. With strong demand for platinum group metals (PGMs) continuing, Bank of America Securities Global Research has raised its 2026 platinum price forecast to $2 450/oz from $1 825/oz and its 2026 palladium price forecast to $1 725/oz from $1 525/oz. Key takeaways from the bank's latest Global Metals Weekly dated January 9 are that the dislocations of PGMs from trade disputes are keeping markets tight, especially in the case platinum. In addition, China's platinum imports are adding support. While a supply response is likely, the bank expects this response to be gradual owing to what it describes as "production discipline and inelastic mine supply". The forecasts arise amid platinum and palladium prices continuing to rally this year, with spot prices reaching $2 446/oz for platinum and $1 826/oz for palladium. As such, both metals have now exceeded the bank's prior projections, thus the increased price forecasts. "We continue to expect platinum to outperform palladium, underpinned by persistent market deficits," the bank stated in a release to Mining Weekly. The bank reports that US tariffs have had a pronounced impact on a range of metal markets and the risk of duties is still hanging over the PGMs. This is one reason why Chicago Mercantile Exchange inventories have risen and exchange for physical (EFPs) have spiked. Palladium EFPs have outperformed, heavily influenced by growing concern that the US could impose duties on Russian palladium under ongoing anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations. Putting some concrete numbers behind that, the banks reports that dumping margin of unwrought Russian palladium was estimated by the US Department of Commerce at about 828 %. Duties on yet-to-be-announced Russian ounces could, the bank reports, drive domestic prices even higher, given the country is a key supplier. CHINESE IMPORT DEMAND ADDS FURTHER SUPPORT Outside the US, China has also given price support. Earlier in 2025, a sharp rebound of activity in its jewellery sector drew more ounces into China and with gold prices at record highs, this is worth following as a substitution of just 1% in gold jewellery demand could raise the platinum deficit by nearly one million ounces or about 10% of supply. Meanwhile, through the second half of 2025, the launch of physically backed platinum and palladium futures contracts by China's Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) has added further price support. As context, these contracts are China's first domestic, Renminbi-denominated hedging instruments for PGMs and allow physical delivery of both ingot and sponge metal. The sourcing of physical liquidity is cited as a key factor behind December's rally. Palladium importation has also quadrupled since September compared with last year, which the bank notes is fundamentally hard to explain given the phase-out of combustion engine vehicles and looks to be heavily influenced by the launch of the GFEX futures contract. GRADUAL SUPPLY RESPONSE EXPECTED With PGM prices now trading above both marginal costs and incentive prices, the supply response is coming into focus. "We expect any response to be measured. Producers' margins – particularly in South Africa and North America – have been under sustained pressure over the past two years, so they may take a cautious approach to expanding production," the bank noted. As for new supply, additions are likely to emerge only gradually, given the long lead times from development through to the steady-state output. Many projects underway represent incremental expansions or phased ramp-ups rather than sources of large, near-term increases in supply. Switching to supply, production issues in South Africa also contributed to a tighter platinum market in 2025. To that point, mined ...

    5 min

  5. 5 DAYS AGO

    Diamond industry won't see positive end to 2026 if it fails to work together, leader warns

    This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. In Friday's Diamond Industry Updates email to Mining Weekly, the South African Diamond Producers Organisation carries this global warning from international diamond luminary Ronnie VanderLinden: "If we don't gather our wares and if we don't work together, and if we're splintered, we're not going to see a positive end to 2026." VanderLinden is vice president of the World Diamond Council and a former president of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association. The World Diamond Council is the New York-based trade association that represents the entire diamond pipeline from miners to retailers. VanderLinden was sharing his insights with IDEX Online regarding the challenges facing the diamond industry as he prepares to take over from Feriel Zerouki as World Diamond Council president in May. In VanderLinden's view the diamond industry adapted well to the impacts of Covid-19 but has since faltered. The report by IDEX Newsletter editor John Jeffay highlights, in particular, the failure of last year's Luanda Accord. The Luanda Accord is a global campaign to market natural diamonds.It generated much excitement when it was announced in June when African producers pledged to contribute 1% of their rough sales to promote their products and counter the rise of laboratory-grown diamonds. But six months later, there is still no campaign, Jeffay points out, amid VanderLinden's placing great emphasis on the need for diamond marketing: "I think we've lost out because of the way we've marketed our product, our wares. Education and marketing is what will bring the industry back. My feeling is a lot of these countries dove in at a time where the natural diamond industry is suffering terribly. "They all threw their hats in the ring with substantial amounts of money in the middle of the year, when their budgets were all set. They don't have the 1% to give at the moment, that's the way I look at it. My hope is that in 2026, the Luanda Accord will come into effect." Also noted is the absence of sufficient diamond jewellery advertising on US television ahead of the holiday season, in sharp contrast to the significant advertising of laboratory-grown diamonds. VanderLinden's other upcoming presidency priorities are conflict diamonds and US tariffs and he points out that tariffs are hurting wholesalers and manufacturers and that resolution hinges on a US trade agreement with India. He also makes references to consumer with this comment: "We know that debt is skyrocketing out there on credit card debt, defaults on mortgages, on car payments, and so on and so forth. "If we don't gather our wares and if we don't work together, and if we're splintered, we're not going to see a positive end to 2026," warns VanderLinden, who was elected president of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association in 2016 and vice president of the World Diamond Council in 2022. Interestingly, the International Diamond Manufacturers Association, which was founded immediately after the Second World War, convened in Antwerp, Belgium, for the first time in 1946. At that time, two of the world's three major diamond manufacturing centres – Amsterdam and Antwerp – were starting to rebuild after they had been almost destroyed and their diamond communities decimated.

    3 min

  6. 5 DAYS AGO

    Martin Creamer talks about: Gold, platinum jewellery demand, commodity windfall make headlines

    Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer talks to us about expectations for a long-run gold bull market; platinum jewellery demand showing resilience amid market fluctuations; and how South Africa can take advantage of the expected commodity windfall.

    5 min

  7. 5 DAYS AGO

    Long-run gold bull market expected by CPM Group of the US

    This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. Given the state of the world politically, economically, financially and socially, the gold bull market is expected to continue in the long run, says Jeffrey Christian of New York-based CPM Group. As metals continue to reach record levels, CPM Group this week also provided a market update on platinum and palladium prices amid US and international events becoming a dominant driver of investment demand. The move away from traditional economic fundamentals was noted along with investor anxiety and renewed buying interest being heightened by rising political uncertainty and strained international relations. It was also pointed out that, as the US government catches up from its October and early November furlough, the high volume of US administration data due to be released this month and next, may be economically impactful to the extent that it elevates the prices of precious metals even more. "We're going to see a lot of data ... and a lot of that data may be economically hostile, which could add to the fuel that's driving precious metals prices higher," Christian pointed out in his 'what happens next?' video, covered by Mining Weekly. The data coming out will cover the third and fourth quarters of 2025 and provide early first-quarter 2026 pointers. "There are a lot of domestic and international political issues that are creating greater uncertainties, higher risks and greater investor anxieties, and that's going to continue until things change. "We don't see necessarily a better change on the immediate horizon, so gold prices have risen very high. Our expectation has been that they would be stronger in the first quarter of this year and then possibly plateau. That continues to be our expectation. "Over the course of 2025 gold prices rose from January through March, moved sideways in April, May, June and July, and then in late August, they rose again," Christian recalled. WEALTH PRESERVATION INVESTORS The presentation also highlighted the emergence of unconventional affluence-safeguarding price-trend investors entering the gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper and aluminium markets. "We've seen a lot of short-term investors. These are not traditional precious metals investors. These are momentum traders and short-term speculative people coming into the gold and silver markets, as well as into platinum and palladium and copper and aluminium markets. "These investors are now wedded to the idea of having and holding physical gold and silver as a form of wealth preservation. "They're looking for capital appreciation, and if they see the price plateau, they can leave very quickly, so it's something to watch out for. "But given the state of the world, given the political developments that we've seen and that we expect to see, given the breakdown of the United States relationships with its European allies, as well as Canada and Mexico, two of its three largest trading partners, as well as China, the third major trading partner, there are a lot of issues that probably are going to keep investors interested in precious metals this year," Christian observed. PLATINUM PRICES It was noted that platinum prices are higher now than they were at the beginning of 2008, when electricity failure in South Africa significantly disrupted platinum, palladium and rhodium production. The chart displayed showed the steady rise of the platinum price from 2001 right into 2007. "Then the power went out," Christian recalled, which resulted in the platinum price first soaring to $2 300/oz, and then plummeting with a thud to $800/oz as a result of the US' Great Depression, which spread panic in the platinum-reliant automotive industry. The panic was bought brought about by the automotive sector having bought a lot of platinu...

    6 min

  8. 7 JAN

    Platinum jewellery demand continues to show resilience amid market fluctuations

    Platinum jewellery demand continues to show resilience amid market fluctuations This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. Global platinum jewellery demand has shown notable third-quarter (Q3) resilience as consumers in key markets seek value and authenticity amid historic highs in gold prices, Platinum Guild International (PGI) reported on Wednesday January 7. The PGI's Q3 2025 Platinum Jewellery Business Review outlined how platinum's natural white brilliance, exceptional durability, and high purity are continuing to drive a compelling value proposition. "The current record-high price of gold represents a significant opportunity for platinum, as consumers actively seek a premium yet accessible alternative," PGI CEO Tim Schlick emphasised the clear shift towards platinum's superior value proposition in a release to Mining Weekly. "We're intensifying our strategic efforts to ensure the market capitalises on this moment," Schlick added with platinum positioning itself as the discerning choice for trade partners and jewellery consumers. However, after an initial 108% first-half surge, platinum jewellery fabrication slowed in China – but with the gem-set sector's robust momentum continuing to substantially outperform the gold jewellery segment. Although China's fourth-quarter trade sentiment remained cautious, leading retailers are preparing to launch new platinum collections to stimulate demand. In India, platinum jewellery outperformed the broader market with PGI's strategic partners achieving 8% retail sales growth year-on-year. Rising yet still competitive platinum prices versus gold, expansions of the retail network and co-operative marketing programmes for brands like Men of Platinum, have built trade confidence and are creating new market opportunities in the Sub-Continent on the back of ongoing marketing and brand initiatives. In Japan, platinum jewellery unit sales held firm despite rising prices. Increased Q3 retail sales value was driven by higher average prices. Growth was reported in the mid-priced categories with demand for Kihei and neckwear categories remained strong. In the US, new tariffs and rising prices have had the negative effect of consumers purchasing fewer units but at higher price points and shifting towards more selective buying across the overall jewellery sector. In the case of platinum jewellery, market resilience resulted in PGI partners reporting double-digit revenue growth despite a slight dip in unit sales. The shift from white gold to platinum continues despite tariff-related headwinds, accelerated by high gold prices and innovative alloys for platinum jewellery. Looking ahead, PGI anticipates that the favourable platinum-to-gold price ratio will drive more substitution across bridal and luxury segments globally. Continued marketing investment and product innovation are expected to sustain momentum, positioning the fourth quarter for positive performance supported by strategic brand positioning. PGI is a worldwide marketing organisation dedicated to creating, expanding and strengthening consumer and trade markets for platinum jewellery. It has offices in world's major jewellery markets and through various programmes in collaboration with jewellery retailers and manufacturers, PGI creates consumer ounce demand by identifying and fulfilling platinum jewellery opportunities for its partners. Formed in 1975 to grow platinum jewellery demand, PGI is funded by South African platinum producers and works collaboratively with jewellery fabricators, retailers, and brands in core markets.

    3 min
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MiningWeekly.com provides real time news reportage through originated written & video material. Now you can listen to the top three articles on Mining Weekly at the end of each day.

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