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Investment demand for platinum remains extremely strong, with market fundamentals continuing to support platinum as a compelling investment.

Market tightness suggests that there is insufficient platinum availability.

By year end, above ground stocks are projected to provide less than three months' global demand cover. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Platinum bar and coin demand is expected to be 33% higher in 2026 than in 2025.

All the conditions that spurred the 2025 price rally are still very much in play.

Incoming emissions regulations are supportive of automotive demand for platinum.

The need for regional energy security, particularly in Europe and East Asia, is getting hydrogen demand going again.

Even potential demand drag for platinum catalysts possibly coming through from automotive or petrochemical perspectives would likely be more than offset by platinum investment.

These and many other points were made by World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) director of research Edward Sterck, who spoke to Mining Weekly following the publication of the Platinum Quarterly for quarter one of 2026, in which WPIC CEO Trevor Raymond notes that platinum's strong 2025 price performance and robust 2026 levels have increased global attention to platinum's investment potential.

Raymond points out that a far wider cohort of investors is now actively considering platinum's precious attributes and platinum demand is well insulated, the geopolitical Middle East headwinds notwithstanding.

"We're also seeing platinum already playing a vital role across many technologies underpinning the rollout of AI infrastructure – from optical communications to data storage," Raymond reported.

Mining Weekly: What are the key factors attributing to the fourth consecutive deficit forecast for 2026?

Sterck: There are a couple of key factors really. Firstly, supply is ultimately continuing to be extremely constrained. We've seen a pretty substantial increase in platinum group metal (PGM) prices over the last 12 months. Remember that the price rally started more or less a year ago. At one point we were up by almost over 200% and now we're slightly over 100% up on prices one year ago. But despite that price increase, we haven't really seen a meaningful change in supply outlook. Mine supply is fundamentally very, very limited by geological factors. These are, for the most part, deep-level underground mines. There's an intrinsic limitation in terms of the ability to flex output from those operations on a short-term or even a medium-term basis.

At the same time, we do see a little bit more flexibility in terms of recycling supply. We've got an increase around 9% year-on-year in terms of recycling supply outlook. But there are some potential headwinds to that in terms of credit availability and the availability of end-of-life vehicles and autocatalysts to be recycled. It is important to recognise that we do have some headwinds on the demand side of the equation but, for the most part, demand has proving to be extremely resilient. We're not projecting significant growth. Automotive is down 2% year-on-year. Jewellery demand is down around 12% from last year, which is largely due to slightly reduced demand from China, whereas in the rest of the world, we're expecting in most geographies, demand to remain at or above last year's levels.

Then, in terms of industrial demand, we've got a return to growth after, cyclically, a very weak 2025. The big swing factor this year is investment demand. I think it's important to emphasise, before I go into the detail, that actually investment demand remains extremely strong. It's just that we're not expecting the repeat of the massive inflows we saw last year into exchange stocks and exchang...

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TSX-listed Rio2 delivered a milestone quarter in the three months ended March 31, highlighted by initial cash flows from the Condestable copper mine, in Peru, and the early stages of ramp-up at the Fenix gold mine, in Chile.

Rio2's consolidated production for the quarter totalled 7 849 oz of gold, 49 198 oz of silver and 6.4-million pounds of copper.

Rio2 president and CEO Andrew Cox says the first quarter of the 2026 financial year was significant owing to first production from the Fenix mine and the addition of cashflows from Condestable following the company's acquisition of the operation in January.

At Fenix, the team advanced through the initial ramp-up while addressing some unforeseen startup challenges.

"Although the ramp-up was slower than anticipated, most critical issues have now been addressed and rectified. We are expecting production to steadily increase to projected levels over the remaining three quarters of the year.

"Operating a new mine at high altitude in Chile is a challenging undertaking and the management team has done a great job in resolving those challenges," Cox explains.

Some of the challenges at Fenix in the quarter include a delayed blasting permit, tight labour availability for Rio2's contractor Stracon and the processing plant experiencing initial startup issues with the elution solution pump having failed three times.

Based on current ramp-up progress, Rio2 anticipates commercial production at Fenix in the fourth quarter, with the mine being poised to produce about 60 000 oz for the full year.

Meanwhile, the Condestable mine is performing up to expectation following the company's acquisition of the operation in January.

Rio2's income from mine operations totalled $24.6-million in the quarter under review, with adjusted net income having amounted to $12.1-million.

The company ended the quarter with $93.1-million of cash and cash equivalents on hand.

For comparison, cash provided by operating activities in the reporting quarter was $22.8-million, cash used from investing activities was $80.3-million, and net cash provided from financing activities was $103.5-million, compared to cash flow from operating activities in the comparative quarter ended March 31, 2025, which was $19.3-million, $16.2-million and $40 000, respectively.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer talks about uranium production in Southern Africa looking up as demand outlook rises; a drill hole in the Northern Cape which has revealed a significant zone of visible copper sulphide mineralisation; and the ownership transition of Cementation

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

Positive first-quarter mine operating income has heartened South African platinum group metals (PGM) and chrome mining company Eastplats, which reported on Friday, May 15 that it will continue to focus on operational efficiencies to improve its PGM and chrome production.

The Canada-based company, which has a primary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, reported a $5.4-million-higher first-quarter mine operating income from its Crocodile River mine PGMs and chrome operations on the western limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex.

Six-element PGM production of 4 751 oz in the three months to March 31 was up on the 3 175 oz in the corresponding period of last year. The production of chrome concentrate was also well up at 16 757 t compared with last year's first-quarter output of 9 761 t.

Overall, first-quarter revenue fell by 6.8% to $13.8-million while first-quarter gross margin was 4.8% compared with the negative -31.6% in the first quarter of last year.

This was the result of higher PGM sales as well as the completion of shifting from tailings feed to run-of-mine (RoM) upper group two (UG2) ore from the Zandfontein underground section of the Crocodile River mine.

"We had a challenging first quarter as monthly RoM processing tonnages at Crocodile River mine were lower than targeted. That said, we're encouraged by the positive mine operating income and continue to focus on operational efficiencies to improve PGM and chrome production," Eastplats CEO and president Wanjin Yang stated in a media release to Mining Weekly.

Most of Eastplats' revenue – 81% for first quarter of 2026 – is from PGM concentrate sales to Impala Platinum under offtake agreements, as production from the Crocodile River mine ramps up.

Net loss attributable to equity shareholders narrowed to $4.1-million compared with $6.9-million in the first quarter of last year.

SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCTION

Minerals Council South Africa reported on May 15 that in the month of March, overall South African production of PGMs was 10.5% higher than in March 2025, supported by operational stability and demand recovery.

In addition, PGMs were the biggest contributors to South Africa's overall mineral sales of R242-billion in the first three months of 2026.

Price developments in the month of March were considerable, with the rhodium price at a 105.7%-higher $11 285/oz, platinum at a 109.6%-higher $2 054/oz, and palladium at a 62.4%-higher $1 556/oz.

"The sharp increase in mineral sales earnings highlights the sector's potential to catalyse inclusive growth in South Africa. With supportive policy and regulatory frameworks, the industry could achieve even greater outcomes," Minerals Council South Africa noted in a release to Mining Weekly.

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Critical and precious metals project developer and investor Metals One has signed an agreement with materials liberation company DISA Technologies to seek to evaluate and, if successful, treat historically abandoned uranium mine waste dumps and recover saleable uranium and other critical mineral concentrates at Metals One's 100%-owned Uravan Belt uranium/vanadium project, in Colorado, in the US.

The Uravan project was acquired by Metals One in July 2025.

It comprises 59 unpatented mining claims situated near the historic Buckhorn mine within the Uravan Mineral Belt, a district responsible for more than 60-million pounds of uranium and 330-million pounds of vanadium production during the twentieth century.

Within the Uravan project, there are eight separate abandoned uranium mine waste dumps suitable for potential recovery.

In September 2025, Metals One announced it had returned grades of up to 41 768 ppm uranium (4.17%) from historic waste material from rock chip sample assays.

This agreement expands on an existing relationship with DISA.

Under the terms of the latest agreement, DISA will now advance exploration work.

Metals One will be paid a gross revenue share of saleable uranium and other critical mineral concentrates recovered from waste dumps at the Uravan project through the deployment of DISA's modular mobile plants using the patented high-pressure slurry ablation (HPSA) system.

Metals One is not required to contribute any capital or operational expenditure.

Metals One will also receive a percentage of gross product sale revenue stream, minus certain post-treatment allowable costs – a sliding scale with a base rate of 2.5%, through to 4% in certain metals pricing environments.

DISA will be the operator of the Uravan project and pay all associated costs of permitting, evaluation, treatment and ongoing remediation.

The HPSA process treats surface dumps of previously partially mined and aggregated material.

In September 2025, DISA became the first company to receive a service providers licence from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, providing a regulatory licence for it to remediate abandoned uranium mine waste.

In addition to extracting valuable uranium and critical minerals, the process delivers improvements to the local environment and watersheds by removing on average 90% of the uranium and radium-226 content from the waste, as evidenced by a treatability study DISA completed with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Metals One points out.

It also highlights strong US government support for the domestic recovery of uranium and critical minerals from legacy mine waste.

DISA will now undertake a characterisation programme with a combination of assay and gamma probes to determine the likely quantities of uranium and other recoverable minerals present in the waste piles.

The application and completion of all requisite permits needed to start the treatment of waste and recovery of payable concentrates using HPSA technology will also be advanced.

"The Uravan project sits within one of the US's most prolifically mined uranium belts. Assays from Metals One's initial exploration activities last year indicate the exceptional grades historically mined from within the project, with multiple samples containing uranium and vanadium at ore-grade levels.

"It follows that there is a significant opportunity to apply DISA's breakthrough process to remediate abandoned uranium mine waste from the identified sites and recover valuable uranium and critical minerals whilst improving the environmental legacy from historical mining," says Metals One MD Daniel Maling.