Faiza Tehseen

The Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan regions hold good quantities of platinum – one of the platinoid group metals (PGMs) – waiting to be extracted.

“About 200 kilogrammes of different PGM group metals can be obtained out of 200 tonnes of raw material during the month-long processing period,” said Muhammad Yaqub Shah, principal geologist in a global mining company and former general manager of geology in Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC).

Talking to WealthPK, he said every developed country notifies a list of PGMs periodically, classifying them as the prioritised minerals. “They are stockpiled or traded under strict official control. No private entity is allowed to trade them.”

Yaqub Khan said that platinum group of minerals (PGMs) consists of six minerals with industrial application of every mineral being different from the other. “Their concentration of five grams per tonne during mining is considered economic, and sold in the international market at high rates. During July 2022, platinum was sold at $33 per gram internationally. Platinum, in the form of coins and bars, is also used as investment and trade commodity on major exchanges.”

Geologist and miner Imran Babar told WealthPK that platinum, palladium and rhodium belong to the same group and are mostly found together. “Their presence is found associated with chromite in Zhob district of Balochsitan. Their traces are also found in Dargai area of Kohistan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and many other places, which have been traced but not announced yet.”

Imran Babar said it was surprising that in old scriptures of 1881, traces of platinum were also found in Punjab. He said platinum is now used to manufacture a number of industrial items in developed nations, and Pakistan must also get its socioeconomic benefits. 

In 2021, global sales of platinum totalled $90.4 billion. The international platinum market size is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 5.0% by 2027. The large exporters of platinum in 2021 were the UK, Russia, South Africa, USA, and Germany, meeting73.4% of the global demand for platinum. Countries also mint platinum bullion coins i.e., the Chinese Platinum ‘Panda’, the Canadian Platinum ‘Maple leaf’, the American Platinum ‘Eagle’, the Australian Platinum ‘Koala’, the Isle of Man ‘Noble’, the Austrian ‘Vienna Philharmonic and a number of the platinum coin additions by the Soviet Union and later by the Russian Federation.

Platinum is a paramagnetic and non-tarnishing industrial metal. It is said that platinum helps manufacture about one-fifth of all manufactured goods in modern times. About 95% pure platinum is one of the purest precious metals. In 2021, about 58.2 tonnes of platinum were used to manufacture jewellery, which is the second largest platinum consuming sector after the automobile sector, which used 80.64 million tonnes of platinum in 2021.

Independent News Pakistan-Wealthpk