South Africa Turmoil Sends Rhodium & Palladium Production to
Eastern Bushveld A larger amount of platinum group metals will
have to come from the Eastern Bushveld as current deposits in
South Africa are being depleted and disrupted, according to new
research by the US Geological Service (USGS). The new report
says shallow Merensky deposits are running out in top producing
countries like South Africa and Russia, forcing miners to drill
deeper to UG2 deposits. “A greater percentage of the supply of
pgms from South Africa is likely to come from the Eastern
Bushveld deposits,” said David R Wilburn in the study titled
‘Global exploration and production capacity for platinum group
metals from 1995 through 2015′. In 1995, only six percent of the
palladium reserve, four percent of platinum and four percent of
the rhodium reserve came from the Eastern Bushveld. By 2015, 29%
of the rhodium reserve,27% of the palladium reserve, and 25% of
the platinum reserve for mines producing pgms in South Africa
will originate from