Precious Metals
Platinum Group Metals
Platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium and ruthenium — exceptional catalysts with extreme scarcity.
PGMStrategic score 74US Critical MineralEU Critical Raw Material
Price
$985 / USD/oz Pt
Price change
3.4%
Producing assets
2
Technologies
1
Context
Why it matters
PGMs sit at the centre of emissions control today and hydrogen electrolysis and fuel cells tomorrow.
Profile
Supply and sustainability
- Applications
- Autocatalysts, Hydrogen electrolysers, Fuel cells, Chemical catalysts, Hard disk and electronics
- Supply risk
- High. Supply is extraordinarily concentrated by geology.
- Geopolitics
- South Africa and Russia together account for the large majority of global PGM output.
- Substitutes
- Substitution occurs between platinum and palladium as relative prices move.
- Recycling
- Very high. Autocatalyst recycling is a mature and significant supply source.
- Sustainability
- Deep South African mines are energy and labour intensive; PGMs also enable major emissions reductions downstream.
- Forecast
- Autocatalyst demand plateaus as EVs grow; hydrogen is the long-term offset.
- Key countries
- 2 tracked producer and processing roles
Methodology
Earthern Strategic Score 74
Version v0.1
- Demand Outlook
- 82 (weight 1.2) — Projected demand growth relative to the broader mineral economy over the next decade.
- Supply Risk
- 74 (weight 1.2) — Likelihood of supply falling short of demand, accounting for project pipeline and lead times.
- Geographic Concentration
- 84 (weight 1) — How concentrated mining and processing are across countries and companies.
- Geopolitical Risk
- 73 (weight 1) — Exposure to export controls, sanctions and jurisdictional instability.
- Technology Importance
- 75 (weight 1.1) — How central the mineral is to strategically important technologies.
- Strategic Importance
- 75 (weight 1) — Recognition in national critical mineral lists and defence supply chains.
- Substitutability
- 70 (weight 0.8) — How readily the mineral can be replaced without material performance loss. Higher is harder to substitute.
- Recycling Potential
- 66 (weight 0.7) — Ability of secondary supply to relieve primary demand. Higher means less relief available.
Assets
Mines, projects and refineries
Materials