Platinum group metals had an active Thursday as South Africa's producers reshuffled offtake and ownership lines while a European lab offered the hydrogen sector a path to cut its platinum bill. Platinum traded near $1,614/oz and palladium jumped more than 3% intraday, while the day's bigger story was corporate: Valterra Platinum deepened its grip on PGM concentrate supply even as it edges toward a decision on underground mining at the world's biggest platinum mine.
Top stories#
Valterra to buy half of Tharisa's PGM concentrate, replacing Sibanye-Stillwater#
Tharisa said on Thursday its subsidiary Tharisa Minerals has entered a binding multi-year agreement under which Valterra Platinum will purchase 50% of the PGM concentrate produced by the Tharisa Mine, replacing Sibanye-Stillwater as an offtake partner, effective from 1 January 2027. Northam Platinum will retain its existing offtake for the remaining output. The two companies also agreed to collaborate on fine chrome recovery using Tharisa's Vulcan X technology. The agreement extends a partnership struck on 27 August 2026, when Valterra became the concentrate purchase partner for Tharisa's Karo Platinum project in Zimbabwe. News of the offtake deal followed Tharisa's fourth-quarter production report two days earlier, which showed full-year PGM output up 11% to 153,700oz and an average basket price of $2,607/oz for the year. For background on the companies involved, see DailyPlatinum's profiles of Valterra Platinum and Tharisa.
Valterra nears decision on taking Mogalakwena underground#
Valterra Platinum is approaching a final investment decision on an underground extension, known as Sandsloot, at its Mogalakwena mine, the world's largest open-pit platinum operation. Chief financial officer Sayurie Naidoo told Bloomberg Television's Chief Future Officer that the company plans to begin trial mining later this year and reach a final investment decision in 2027, saying "we believe that going underground is the most cost-effective option for us." Chief executive Craig Miller said on the same program that "we have many, many decades of PGMs available just within our portfolio, so the supply is not a concern." A green light would be Valterra's biggest strategic move since it was spun out of Anglo American in June 2025, and is aimed at reaching higher-grade ore as the open pit's reef quality declines. Miller also pointed to internal combustion engines, hybrids and longer-term hydrogen transport as reasons the company expects continued PGM demand, arguing that forecasts for battery electric vehicle uptake have repeatedly proved overoptimistic. More on the operator is on DailyPlatinum's Valterra Platinum page.
UBS crosses 5% stake in Sibanye-Stillwater#
Sibanye-Stillwater said on 14 October 2026 that it had received formal notification that UBS Group AG's beneficial interest in the company's ordinary shares had risen to 5.02% of total issued shares, triggering disclosure under South Africa's Companies Act and JSE listing rules. The notice is a standard beneficial-ownership filing and does not by itself point to a change in strategy or an activist position. DailyPlatinum tracks the producer's operations on its Sibanye-Stillwater page.
TU Wien finds a path to cut platinum use in electrolyser coatings by up to 88%#
Researchers at Austria's TU Wien reported that thinner protective platinum coatings on the titanium bipolar plates used in proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysers could sharply cut platinum consumption without a loss of performance. In testing, a 24-nanometer coating stayed largely intact and kept good electrical conductivity under electrochemical stress, while an 8-nanometer layer showed clear defects. Industrial coatings today commonly run around 200 nanometers thick, and the institute said shifting to the thinner, still-durable layer could save roughly 88% of the platinum used in that coating. Researcher Helmut Riedl-Tragenreif said "today, platinum coatings several hundred nanometers thick are often used. Our results show just how large the potential for savings is." The savings target a different platinum use than catalyst loading in PEM cells, but point to component engineering as another lever for lowering PGM intensity in hydrogen equipment.
South African miners review safety protocols as deaths rise#
Minerals Council South Africa chief executive Mzila Mthenjane told Reuters that the industry is reviewing safety protocols after the mining sector's fatality count climbed to 53 as of 12 October, above the historic lows of 41 recorded in 2025 and 42 in 2024. Mthenjane said mining companies, and particularly their CEOs, are concerned about the current safety record, and that the industry is looking at new controls while affirming workers' right to refuse unsafe work. He said most fatalities were concentrated in the gold and platinum sectors because they are the industry's largest employers.
Prices and market context#
Platinum traded at $1,614.00/oz bid ($1,624.00 ask) on Kitco's World Spot Price series at 09:09 ET on 15 October 2026, up $19.00, or 1.19%, on the day, in a range of $1,591.00 to $1,629.00. Palladium was the stronger mover, at $1,114.00/oz bid ($1,154.00 ask), up $36.00, or 3.34%, in a range of $1,071.00 to $1,161.00. Rhodium was last quoted at $8,850.00/oz bid ($9,850.00 ask) as of 18:00 ET on 14 October 2026, unchanged on the day. Current platinum levels remain well below the metal's all-time high of $2,923/oz, reached on 26 January 2026, according to WPIC. Track live levels on DailyPlatinum's platinum price and palladium price pages.
What to watch#
- 1 January 2027: Valterra Platinum's purchase of 50% of Tharisa Mine's PGM concentrate takes effect, replacing Sibanye-Stillwater as offtake partner.
- 2027: Valterra Platinum targets a final investment decision on taking its Mogalakwena mine underground via the Sandsloot project, after trial mining begins later this year.
- Fourth quarter 2027: First ore to the mill is targeted at Tharisa's Karo Platinum project in Zimbabwe, where $240 million of a $516 million budget has been spent to date.
- Ongoing: Minerals Council South Africa's industry-wide safety review, following a rise in mining fatalities to 53 as of 12 October, concentrated in the gold and platinum sectors.
Sources: Tharisa PLC RNS via ADVFN; Businessday; Bloomberg via Mining Weekly; Sibanye-Stillwater notice via IRW-Press; TechXplore and chemeurope.com; Mining.com (Reuters); Kitco World Spot Price.