T he Miner als C ouncil c ontinued t o engage go v ernment on the adoption of the legal t ender pla tinum bullion c oin t o be modelled on the suc c es s of the gold Krugerr and T he out c ome of this w as the de v elopment and launch in early 20 20 of the Big Fiv e pla tinum c oin R egr ettably T r easury w as not c on vinc ed on the point of making this V A T fr ee which will mean tha t South A fricanbased pur chasers will be disadv antaged as the c oin sells a t f ac e v alue T he PLF c ontinued t o guide the w ork of the W orld Pla tinum In v es tment C ouncil WPIC which is f ocused on pr omoting in v es tment demand f or pla tinum R egr ettably funding c ons tr aints ha v e meant tha t the WPIC needed t o cut back on a number of its initia tiv es Ov er all ho w e v er the suc c es s being achie v ed b y this body has been in v aluable in supporting demand T he PLF also w ork ed closely with the Pla tinum Guild Int erna tional an or ganisa tion tha t pr omot es pla tinum je w ellery particularly in China and India T he PLF w as also in v olv ed with the plans t o deal with as w ell as engagement on the violenc e and f or c ed closur es tha t c ompanies had been f acing particularly on the f ar Eas t ern Limb Discus sions w er e held with the Minis t er of Miner al R esour c es and Ener gy and the Minis t er of P olic e t o seek t o r esolv e the impas se tha t man y c ompanies w er e f ac ed with T he c ompanies ha v e been w orking c ollabor a tiv ely with na tional security s tructur es t o impr o v e the support the y r ec eiv e and pr o vide Ov ervie w and appr oach Pla tinum mining is the lar ges t c omponent of the miner als sect or b y emplo yment 165500 people in 20 19 and the sec ond lar ges t b y sales v alue R12 46 billion South A frica is uniquely positioned globally being hos t t o ar ound 6 9 000 t onnes of pla tinum r eserv es which ac c ount f or 8 7 of kno wn w orld r eserv es T he only w a y tha t the full ec onomic and tr ansf orma tional pot ential of these deposits can be r ealised is if s tak eholders w ork t ogether t o gr o w global demand f or pla tinum T he Miner als C ouncil s Pla tinum L eadership F orum PLF member c ompanies ar e Anglo American Pla tinum A frican Rainbo w Miner als Impala Pla tinum Northam Pla tinum R o y al Baf ok eng Pla tinum Sedibelo Pla tinum Siban y eS tillw a t er Siy anda R esour c es and T harisa Miner als Challenges and opportunities T he challenges e xperienc ed b y the pla tinum sect or in 20 19 mirr or man y of the challenges e xperienc ed in other sect ors including unr eliable po w er supply c oupled with a s t eep and unpr edictable incr ease in electricity pric es Despit e c ompanies plans t o build their o wn gener a tion plants r egula t ory and polic y hur dles r emain a signifcant hindr anc e t o these pr ojects A t the same time input c os ts r ose b y 866 f or the PGM indus try in 20 19 lar gely on the back of rising ener gy and labour c os ts T he sect or also e xperienc ed a number of disruptions t o oper a tions as a r esult of c ommunity pr ot es ts A k e y thrus t of the w ork done under the auspic es of the PLF r emains the pr omotion of pla tinum demand not only in s timula ting global demand f or pla tinum je w ellery but also in identifying no v el and sus tainable uses and in v es tment opportunities T he sect or is also f ocused on pla ying a leading r ole in adopting and ac c eler a ting the r ollout of the pla tinumbased h y dr ogen ec onom y An opportunity f or the sect or r emains impr o ving v ehicle emis sion s tandar ds in the BRICS ec onomies A ctivities and f ocus Under the guidanc e of the PLF the Miner als C ouncil c ontinued t o adv anc e the na tional s tr a t egy f or pla tinum thr ough discus sions with k e y s tak eholders on enabling gr o wth in the global PGM mark et L ocal and global partnerships ha v e the pot ential t o driv e gr o wth in in v es tment and je w ellery demand f or pla tinum gr o w the pla tinum based h y dr ogen ec onom y pr omot e pla tinum as a ne w r eserv e as set e xplor e ne w t echnological uses f or pla tinum and support the r aising of emis sion s tandar ds in BRICS c ountries S tr a t egy and s tructur e VIEW S FROM C OMMODITY SECT OR LEADERSHIP FORUMS C ONTINUED VIEW S FROM C OMMODITY SECT OR LEADERSHIP FORUMS C ONTINUED T he pla tinum gr oup metals PGMs c onsis t of six noble metals pla tinum palladium rhodium ruthenium osmium and iridium Pla tinum palladium and rhodium ar e the primary metals of significant ec onomic v alue T he y ar e used lar gely in the je w ellery and aut omotiv e indus tries PLA TINUM LEADERSHIP FORUM P age 42