A major South African mining group is betting that platinum will play an important role in the clean energy transition.
Tharisa said it would invest $547 million in an underground platinum group metals mining project over the next decade despite concerns in recent years that demand for the metal, which has been widely used in traditional internal combustion engines, would drop with the advent of electric vehicles. Platinum is increasingly considered to be useful for new energy solutions, particularly in hydrogen fuel cells and catalytic converters, with Mining World reporting on its “comeback” late last year.
In announcing the investment, Tharisa’s CEO told Reuters that platinum group metals remained “critical metals and minerals that the world has realized are a necessity to transition to a future world.”
