THE WHITE KNIGHTS Beware of PGMs and Pt-Pd Ratios

The buzz of activity in platinum exploration has created some confusion among investors. Assays are often reported as “pgms per ton.” That means all six of the platinum group metals (or pgms) contained in the sample are being reported — not just platinum, but also palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium. Rhodium, which typically comprises 3% to 8% of the total metal in any pgm deposit, is fetching a pretty good price these days (because of a shortage of the metal) at about $1,250 per oz. When it comes down to actually mining the deposit, platinum is the important revenue-generating metal. Platinum and palladium generally account for about 85% or more of the valuable metal in any pgm deposit. In the exploration stage, it is too expensive to assay for everything, so the platinum and palladium values are the important ones. Whichever one is more abundant in a particular deposit is also important. Platinum prices have recently been about $512 per oz while palladium is commanding a price of $127 per oz. South African mines generally have three times more platinum than palladium. On the other hand, North America’s only primary platinum/palladium producer, the Stillwater Complex in Montana, produces about three times more palladium than platinum per ton of ore mined.