Sustainability reporting and the platinum group metals: A global mining industry leader?

Platinum group metals (pgms) are increasingly used in a wide variety of important environmentally-related technologies (for example, catalytic converters), most of which are expected to grow in demand as the world develops. Over the past decade, the global mining industry has embraced the need to incorporate sustainable development into projects and governance, resulting in a major surge in the use of annual sustainability reporting to demonstrate such performance. The majority of global pgms production is in South Africa, and this paper assesses and analyses the sustainability reporting by the pgms sector. The approach to sustainability reporting is discussed, including an assessment of the extent and detail of reporting by pgms companies, as well as examining the data reported and its relationship to key production aspects such as ore grade and project scale. By analysing trends in water and energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, especially in terms of per unit pgms production, critical issues such as life cycle costs can be ascertained. Whilst sustainability includes social, economic and environmental aspects, this paper focuses on environmental aspects only. Overall, the pgms sector certainly appears to be a global leader in the breadth and depth of sustainability reporting, with the continuing evolution providing a valuable basis to understand the major issues facing the industry and allow strategic planning for the future.