IN SUMMARY
Platinum is almost never discussed alone. It comes as a sextet with palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium, collectively the platinum group metals (PGM), whose geology, processing and applications are so intertwined that they are treated as a single family. They are by far the rarest metals in the Earth's crust, present at parts-per-billion levels, and that scarcity, combined with extraordinarily complex processing, makes their per-kilogram environmental impact orders of magnitude higher than common metals. As demand shifts from catalytic converters toward hydrogen fuel cells, this guide, part of Minviro's "Explore the Elements" series, introduces PGM geology, processing routes, markets and the role of LCA.
PGM are the rarest metals in the crust. Found at parts-per-billion levels, most of Earth's platinum group metals sank into the core during planetary formation, leaving only scarce, highly refractory deposits at the surface, always alongside nickel, copper and gold.
Supply is extraordinarily concentrated. South Africa's vast Bushveld Complex holds around 70% of global PGM mineral wealth, with Russia, Zimbabwe and Canada (notably the Sudbury meteorite-impact deposit) making up most of the rest.
Their carbon footprint is exceptionally high. Because so little is mined and processing is so complex, platinum can emit tens of thousands of kg CO₂e per kg, compared with roughly ten per kg for nickel, which makes LCA essential for the sector.
What PGM are, and why they form together
The platinum group metals are six elements, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium, that are almost always discussed as a set because their geology, processing and uses are inherently linked. They are the rarest metals in the Earth's crust, present at only parts-per-billion levels. The reason lies in planetary formation: PGM are siderophiles, most stable when bonded with iron, so as the iron-nickel core consolidated, the overwhelming majority were drawn to the centre of the planet and locked there. The small amount remaining accessible near the surface is scarce and highly refractory. They reach mineable concentrations only through a specific, rare process: in certain sub-surface conditions PGM become chalcophiles, bonding with sulfur, so when sulfide melts separate from magma they sweep up the PGM alongside copper, gold and other chalcophiles, forming metal-rich ore bodies on cooling. This is how the great deposits of South Africa, Russia and Canada formed, and it is why PGM ores are among the most isolated in the world, always occurring alongside nickel, copper and gold.
Where PGM come from, and how they're processed
PGM supply is overwhelmingly concentrated in a handful of countries. South Africa's Bushveld Complex, a 66,000 km² formation around 2.1 billion years old, holds roughly 70% of the world's PGM mineral wealth, with significant further reserves thought to lie untapped beneath it. Russia (the Noril'sk-Talnakh ore body), Zimbabwe and Canada also contribute substantially; Canada's Sudbury deposit formed from a massive meteorite impact that melted vast amounts of crust and forced PGM to crystallise around the crater rim. The processing route from ore to refined metal is long and highly specialised: concentration by froth flotation, smelting and converting to a matte, leaching to remove base metals, and complex refining to separate and purify each individual PGM, demanding because the six share such similar chemistry and the end uses require extremely high purity. The whole process is energy-intensive, reagent-heavy, and often runs on electricity with a low renewable share. One environmental upside is that a single PGM supply chain typically yields a basket of valuable metals together, which is favourable in life cycle terms.