South Africa mined 71.2% of the world's primary platinum in 2025, almost all of it from the Bushveld Complex, Johnson Matthey's PGM Market Report (May 2026) shows. Four producers, Valterra Platinum, Sibanye-Stillwater, Impala Platinum and Northam Platinum, work the Complex's three main orebodies through mines that run from open pits to shafts more than 2,000 meters deep, at costs shaped by Eskom's tariffs and a labor-intensive narrow-reef workforce. This page sets out current output, the geology behind it, the named mines and producers, mining costs, the 2024-2026 closures and restructurings, and the outlook for a sector that is shrinking in ounces but not disappearing.
How Much Platinum Does South Africa Produce?#
South Africa produced 3,957,000 ounces (123.1 tonnes) of primary platinum in 2025, down from 4,154,000 ounces in 2024, per Johnson Matthey's May 2026 country supply table. That underlying mine production, around 3.86 million ounces on Johnson Matthey's basis, matches the 120,000 kilograms the U.S. Geological Survey estimates for South African platinum production in its Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. The platinum group metals market as a whole moves largely on what South Africa mines, since no other country supplies platinum at comparable scale.
South Africa's decline in 2025 followed extreme first-quarter rainfall that closed parts of the Amandelbult mine for months, the halt of mining at Bokoni, and ongoing pressure from Eskom's electricity supply, USGS reports. Russia and Zimbabwe are the only other countries that mine meaningful platinum tonnage, and both trail South Africa by a wide margin; the full country-by-country breakdown, including how Zimbabwe and Russia compare, sits on platinum producing countries. That widening gap between South African mine supply and the metal's persistent deficit is tracked on the platinum market deficit, which has run since 2023.
South Africa's Share of World Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium Supply#
South Africa's 2025 world supply share differs sharply by metal: 71.2% of platinum, 34.1% of palladium and 80.7% of rhodium, and Johnson Matthey separately puts its ruthenium share at over 85%. These figures never collapse into one "PGM share" number, because South Africa's ore carries different metals in different proportions depending on which reef is mined.
| Metal | South Africa 2025 primary supply (koz) | World primary supply (koz) | South Africa share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platinum | 3,957 | 5,557 | 71.2% |
| Palladium | 2,246 | 6,589 | 34.1% |
| Rhodium | 566 | 701 | 80.7% |
| Ruthenium | not split by country | 972 | over 85% (note) |
Source: Johnson Matthey PGM Market Report, May 2026. Ruthenium is not broken out by country in Johnson Matthey's tables; the "over 85%" figure is Johnson Matthey's own statement of South Africa's share of global primary ruthenium supply.
The rhodium and ruthenium shares run higher than platinum's because both metals concentrate in the UG2 chromitite, the reef South African mines increasingly favor. Palladium's much lower 34.1% share reflects Russia's Norilsk-Talnakh deposit, which is palladium-dominant rather than platinum-dominant. South Africa's mine output, refined and combined with recycled metal, is one part of world platinum supply; South Africa's platinum share alone still exceeds every other country's combined output several times over.
Why South Africa Has So Much Platinum: The Bushveld Complex#
The Bushveld Complex is the world's largest known layered igneous intrusion, roughly 2,054 million years old (2,054.4 ± 1.3 million years, U-Pb zircon dating) and extending about 450 kilometers east to west and 250 kilometers north to south across Limpopo, North West, Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces, according to Sibanye-Stillwater's Rustenburg Technical Report Summary, filed 24 April 2026. The Complex holds more than 85% of the world's known mineral resources of platinum group metals, per Sibanye-Stillwater's 2025 Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves statement; Sibanye's own Rustenburg filing separately gives a corroborating figure of over 80% for southern Africa as a whole. Both figures come from Sibanye-Stillwater and are not averaged here. The Bushveld Complex's full geology, age and resource inventory sit on its own page.
The Complex's mafic-ultramafic sequence occurs in five geological limbs, of which the western, eastern and northern limbs are mined for platinum group metals. Platinum mining at this scale is possible because the Complex's ore bodies form thin, laterally continuous layers that can be tracked and mined for tens of kilometers along strike, unlike the pod-shaped deposits typical elsewhere.
Merensky Reef, UG2 Chromitite and Platreef#
South Africa mines platinum from three orebodies: the Merensky Reef, the UG2 chromitite and the Platreef, each with a different thickness, grade and metal mix. Farmer A.F. Lombaard found alluvial platinum in the Lydenburg district in 1924, and Hans Merensky traced it to the reef that carries his name; large-scale Merensky mining did not begin until the 1950s, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-Q.
| Orebody | Thickness | Grade (PGE+Au) | Metal character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merensky Reef | 30 cm to 1.5 m, average about 1 m | About 6 g/t in the western Bushveld, about 4.2 g/t in the eastern Bushveld | Platinum-dominant; carries the most gold of the three |
| UG2 chromitite | Main seam 55-75 cm plus a roughly 20 cm leader seam | About 5-6 g/t | Platinum-dominant; the world's dominant source of rhodium, ruthenium and iridium; Cr2O3 content 22-30% |
| Platreef | Up to several hundred meters, averaging about 150 m at Mogalakwena | Lower grade, concentrated in the upper 30-40 m at Mogalakwena | Palladium-dominant or platinum-palladium near parity |
Sources: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-Q; Sibanye-Stillwater Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves statement 2025; Valterra Platinum Integrated Report 2025.
The Merensky Reef was historically the primary target, but most western-limb mines now favor the thinner UG2 seam because its higher rhodium content and saleable chromite by-product give it greater in-situ revenue per square meter despite a lower platinum grade. The Platreef, on the Bushveld Complex's northern limb, is thick enough to support open-pit mining at Mogalakwena, unlike the narrow Merensky Reef and UG2 Reef, which force conventional underground methods. The Platreef also hosts Ivanhoe Mines' new Platreef mine, which produced its first concentrate on 18 November 2025.
South Africa's Largest Platinum Mines and Producers#
Four companies operate South Africa's largest platinum mines: Valterra Platinum, Sibanye-Stillwater, Impala Platinum and Northam Platinum. Between them they run 13 named, currently operating primary platinum mines in South Africa, ranging from open-pit Mogalakwena in the north to the conventional shafts of Marikana in the west; a full ranking against global peers sits on largest platinum producers.
| Producer | Mine | Limb / orebody | FY2025 output | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valterra Platinum | Mogalakwena | Northern limb, Platreef | 947,800 oz | PGM (6-metal: Pt, Pd, Rh, Ir, Ru, Au) |
| Valterra Platinum | Amandelbult | Western limb | 483,600 oz | PGM |
| Valterra Platinum | Mototolo | Eastern limb | 270,800 oz | PGM |
| Valterra Platinum | Modikwa (50%) | Eastern limb | 138,400 oz | PGM |
| Sibanye-Stillwater | Rustenburg | Western limb | 955,000 oz 4E | 4E (Pt, Pd, Rh, Au) |
| Sibanye-Stillwater | Marikana | Western limb | about 600,000 oz 4E | 4E |
| Impala Platinum | Impala Rustenburg | Western limb | 1,280,000 oz | 6E (stock-adjusted) |
| Impala Platinum | Impala Bafokeng | Western limb | 481,000 oz | 6E, in concentrate |
| Impala Platinum | Marula | Eastern limb | 202,000 oz | 6E |
| Impala Platinum | Two Rivers (45%) | Eastern limb | 289,000 oz | 6E |
| Northam Platinum | Zondereinde | Western limb, northern end | 330,769 oz | 4E, equivalent refined |
| Northam Platinum | Booysendal | Eastern limb | 512,147 oz | 4E, in concentrate |
| Northam Platinum | Eland | Western limb | 72,442 oz | 4E, in concentrate |
Sources: Valterra Platinum Integrated Report 2025; Sibanye-Stillwater Form 20-F for FY2025; Implats results commentary, year ended 30 June 2025; Northam trading statement, 9 February 2026. Production bases differ (PGM, 4E and 6E); never divide one producer's total by another's without matching the basis.
Valterra Platinum#
Valterra Platinum's Mogalakwena mine produced 947,800 ounces of PGMs in FY2025, making it South Africa's largest single platinum operation, on the Platreef in the northern limb. Formerly Anglo American Platinum, the company renamed itself Valterra Platinum and demerged from Anglo American plc in 2025, and Anglo American has since reduced its shareholding to zero, according to Valterra's corporate site. Mogalakwena mines five open pits by truck-and-shovel, and Valterra reports the mine's all-in sustaining cost placed it in the first quartile of the industry cost curve in 2025. Mogalakwena Mine's geology, reserves and expansion plans sit on its own page; Valterra's other South African and Zimbabwean operations are covered on Valterra Platinum.
Sibanye-Stillwater#
Sibanye-Stillwater's Rustenburg and Marikana operations together milled about 37.4 million tonnes of ore in 2025 for a combined 4E output of roughly 1.55 million ounces, per the company's Rustenburg and Marikana Technical Report Summaries filed with its FY2025 Form 20-F. Rustenburg runs three conventional vertical shafts plus five mechanized declines, while Marikana mines predominantly by conventional breast stoping; both toll-refine most of their concentrate through Valterra Platinum. Sibanye-Stillwater's South African reserve life runs to 2057 at Rustenburg and 2070 at Marikana, well beyond the horizon of its current cost pressures.
Impala Platinum#
Impala Platinum's Impala Rustenburg operation produced 1,280,000 ounces of 6E metal in FY2025 (stock-adjusted), the largest output on a 6E basis of any single South African mine, according to Implats' results commentary for the year ended 30 June 2025. Implats holds Impala Bafokeng, formerly Royal Bafokeng Platinum before its acquisition, alongside Marula and a 45% stake in Two Rivers, all on South Africa's western and eastern limbs. Impala Platinum's Zimbabwean and Canadian operations, Zimplats, Mimosa and Impala Canada, are covered separately, since they sit outside South Africa.
Northam Platinum#
Northam Platinum's three South African mines, Zondereinde, Booysendal and Eland, produced 330,769, 512,147 and 72,442 ounces of 4E metal respectively in F2025. Northam's own stated group total for F2025, 899,244 ounces of equivalent refined 4E metal, runs below the simple sum of the three mines' figures because concentrate volumes convert to an equivalent-refined basis at less than one-to-one; the company's own total, not the sum, is the correct group figure. Zondereinde is the oldest and deepest of the three, mining to between 1,100 and 2,000 meters with decline access to 2,400 meters; Northam Platinum's reserve life at Zondereinde runs more than 30 years.
What It Costs to Mine Platinum in South Africa#
Mining platinum in South Africa costs producers between roughly US$835 and US$1,507 per ounce on an all-in sustaining basis, depending on the mine and the cost basket used, because South African revenue is dollar-linked but costs are rand-denominated. Valterra reports all-in sustaining cost per 3E ounce sold (platinum, palladium and rhodium), while Sibanye-Stillwater reports its South African all-in sustaining cost per 4E ounce (adding gold); the two bases are never directly comparable, and Implats and Northam do not publish all-in sustaining cost at all.
| Operation | Cash unit cost, 2025 | All-in sustaining cost | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mogalakwena | R16,540/PGM oz | US$835 | Per 3E oz sold |
| Valterra Platinum group | R19,488/PGM oz | US$987 | Per 3E oz sold |
| Impala Platinum group | R22,491/6E oz (stock-adjusted) | not disclosed | 6E |
| Sibanye-Stillwater South African PGM | R25,816/4E oz | R24,193 (US$1,353) | Per 4E oz |
| Northam Platinum group | R27,208/4E oz (H1 F2026) | not disclosed | Equivalent refined 4E |
Sources: Valterra Platinum Integrated Report 2025; Implats results commentary; Sibanye-Stillwater Form 20-F for FY2025; Northam trading statement, 9 February 2026. Sibanye's own Q1 2026 South African all-in sustaining cost rose to US$1,507 per 4E ounce.
Eskom, Electricity and Load Shedding#
Eskom's standard electricity tariff rose 12.74% from 1 April 2025 under the NERSA MYPD6 determination, a national, regulator-approved increase that applies across South African industry, not one negotiated with any single mining company. Power and water together made up 14% of Sibanye-Stillwater's group cost of sales before depreciation and amortization in 2025, up from 12% in 2024, according to the company's Form 20-F. South African headline consumer inflation averaged only 3.2% in 2025, so Eskom's tariff increase ran well above the general price level.
Sibanye's own Rustenburg technical filing states that load shedding "has started to impact productivity at the operations", and the Marikana filing describes "load shifting" during peak grid hours as a further, deliberate reduction in shaft hoisting capacity to control power costs, not only an outage risk. The U.S. Geological Survey attributes part of South Africa's 2025 production decline directly to electricity supply disruption.
Labour: Wages, Headcount and Section 189A Restructuring#
Labor costs made up 34% of Sibanye-Stillwater's group cost of sales before depreciation in 2025, up from 32% in 2024, and on 8 September 2026 the company began Section 189A consultations on restructuring its Kwezi shaft at Rustenburg, putting about 1,114 jobs at risk (781 employees and 333 contractors), Mining Weekly reported. Sibanye cited Kwezi shaft losses of about R208 million in 2024 and R91 million in 2025, plus depletion of the licensed mining area, as its reasons for the proposed restructuring.
South African narrow-reef mining remains far more labor-intensive than mechanized peers: Rustenburg and Marikana together employed 16,570 and 16,515 permanent staff in 2025, against roughly 810 people at Sibanye-Stillwater's entire U.S. platinum group metals operation for comparable-scale output. A five-year wage agreement covering Rustenburg and Marikana, signed in 2022 with AMCU, NUM and UASA, runs annual increases of 6% or more through 2027 for bargaining-unit employees. Sibanye-Stillwater's cost structure, and how rand-dollar movements affect it, are covered in more depth on its own page.
Recent Closures, Restructuring and New Supply#
South Africa's platinum mining sector has seen five major changes since 2024, listed below with their dates.
- The Anglo American Platinum demerger into Valterra Platinum completed in 2025, ending Anglo American plc's shareholding.
- The Amandelbult flood, 19 February 2025, when 300 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours, cutting Valterra's Amandelbult output 17% for the year.
- The Bokoni halt, mid-2025, when African Rainbow Minerals ceased mining and milling at its "early ounce" project, though underground development and a feasibility study for a larger reopening continue.
- The Kwezi restructuring, announced 8 September 2026, proposing to put roughly 1,114 Rustenburg jobs at risk.
- Platreef's first production, 18 November 2025, when Ivanhoe Mines' new mine on the northern limb produced its first concentrate, sold to Northam Platinum.
In August 2026, Financial Mail reported that Northam Platinum had received an unsolicited, exploratory, non-binding approach from a major, unnamed South African PGM producer. Implats and Sibanye-Stillwater publicly distanced themselves from the approach, and while market speculation has pointed to Valterra Platinum as the likely party, Valterra has not confirmed or denied it, and no deal terms or counterparty were confirmed as of this writing. South African mine supply is one half of the metal's global balance; demand from China, a major platinum jewelry and industrial market, is covered separately on china and the platinum market.
South Africa's Platinum Mining Outlook#
Johnson Matthey's May 2026 outlook expects South African PGM output to keep declining modestly in 2026 before broadly holding at current levels into the early 2030s, given adequate capital spending. The forecaster expects a smaller work-in-progress inventory release than in prior years and a limited further contraction in underlying mine production, with a recovery at Amandelbult and ramp-up at Platreef and Eland partly offsetting declines elsewhere.
Platinum Reserves and Resources in South Africa#
South Africa holds 63,000,000 kilograms of the world's 76,000,000-plus kilograms of PGM reserves (83%), per the U.S. Geological Survey's Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, almost all of it in the Bushveld Complex. At current extraction rates, that reserve base underpins Johnson Matthey's view that South African output can be sustained near current levels well into the next decade, even as individual shafts close or restructure. Unexplored extensions of the Merensky Reef and UG2 chromitite could add tens of thousands of tonnes more platinum and palladium to depths of three kilometers, the USGS estimates, though these are probabilistic assessments rather than company-booked reserves.
South African Platinum Prices#
South African platinum buyers and sellers price metal in rand per gram, converted from the U.S. dollar spot price rather than from a separate domestic benchmark. Platinum price in South Africa today tracks that converted rate, alongside palladium price in South Africa today and rhodium price in South Africa today for the other two metals South African mines produce in volume.
South Africa Platinum Mining FAQ#
How many platinum mines are in South Africa?#
Valterra Platinum, Sibanye-Stillwater, Impala Platinum and Northam Platinum operate 13 named, currently producing primary platinum mines in South Africa, from Mogalakwena in the north to Marikana in the west, counting each company's own disclosed operating assets and excluding mines on care and maintenance, such as Valterra's Twickenham.
Is South African platinum mining really in decline?#
South African platinum mining is shrinking in ounces but not disappearing: Johnson Matthey recorded a second consecutive annual production decline in 2025, to 3,957,000 ounces from 4,154,000 in 2024, yet the same report expects production to hold near current levels into the early 2030s given adequate investment. New supply from Platreef and reserves sufficient for decades at existing mines both support that view.