• Connect with us
    • Information
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Careers
      • Partnerships
      • Advertise With Us
      • Authors
      • Browse Topics
      • Events
      • Disclaimer
      • Privacy Policy
    • Australia
      North America
      World
    Login
    Investing News NetworkYour trusted source for investing success
    • North America
      Australia
      World
    • My INN
    Videos
    Companies
    Press Releases
    Private Placements
    SUBSCRIBE
    • Reports & Guides
      • Market Outlook Reports
      • Investing Guides
    • Button
    Resource
    • Precious Metals
    • Battery Metals
    • Base Metals
    • Energy
    • Critical Metals
    Tech
    Life Science
    Precious Metals Market
    Precious Metals News
    Precious Metals Stocks
    • Precious Metals Market
    • Precious Metals News
    • Precious Metals Stocks
    platinum investing

    Research Team Cracks Secret Behind Bushveld Platinum

    Nicole Rashotte
    Jun. 20, 2019 04:45PM PST
    Precious Metals
    Platinum Investing

    Dr. Sofya Chistyakova and researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand have found how platinum deposits in South Africa actually form.

    There are two competing ideas on how platinum deposits are formed, and researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) believe they have determined which process is behind South Africa’s Bushveld Complex.

    A study published Wednesday (June 19) suggests that the platinum deposits at the Bushveld Complex were created via crystals that grew in situ, directly on the floor of the structure’s magmatic chamber.

    The researchers came to this conclusion when their team, led by Dr. Sofya Chistyakova, examined the Merensky reef of the Bushveld Complex, which holds a huge amount of the world’s platinum.

    Crucially, they figured out that while the Merensky reef was forming, portions of its chamber floor were irregular because of circular depressions or potholes.

    “Our key discovery is that the entire Merensky reef package in these potholes may develop as a ‘rind’ covering all the chamber floor depressions and culminations, even where these are vertical or overhanging,” said Chistyakova.

    The second idea on how platinum deposits are formed is through the settling of crystals on the floor of a magmatic chamber through gravity. According to the researchers, the pothole findings show it isn’t possible that the Bushveld Complex platinum deposits could have been formed in this way.

    That’s because sinking crystals from the Merensky reef would not have been able to cut through the solid rocks that form the overhangs of the potholes.

    “This is the most fundamental conclusion of our work and it can probably be applied to platinum deposits in other layered intrusions as well as potentially extended to other types of magmatic deposits, for example, chromite and Fe-Ti-V magnetite ores in mafic-ultramafic complexes,” said Chistyakova.

    Most of the world’s economically viable platinum deposits occur as reefs in layered intrusions of silicate rock containing sulfides enriched in platinum-group elements.

    South Africa is the world’s largest producer of platinum by far, accounting for about 75 percent of global output. The Bushveld Complex itself contains more than half of the world’s platinum, chromium, vanadium and refractory minerals.

    As of 12:45 p.m. EDT on Thursday (June 20), platinum was trading at US$803 per ounce. 

    Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates!

    Securities Disclosure: I, Nicole Rashotte, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

    platinum investingbushveld complexsouth africa
    The Conversation (0)

    Go Deeper

    AI Powered
    Platinum bullion bars in a grid pattern with one bar on top.

    How to Invest in Platinum Stocks, Bullion and More

    Impala Platinum Holdings

    Latest News

    Locksley Reports High-Grade Antimony Concentrate at Significantly Higher Grades than Comparable American Projects in Initial Metallurgical Test Work of Surface Samples from the Company's Desert Antimony Mine Project in California

    Golconda Gold Ltd. Releases Q3 2025 Production Update

    Kobo Resources Intersects 17.0 m at 3.87 g/t Au, Further Defining High-Grade Gold Mineralisation at its Kossou Gold Project

    Canada One Mining: Positioned for Significant Copper Discovery in  British Columbia

    Locksley Produces High Grade Antimony Concentrate

    More News

    Outlook Reports world

    Resource
    • Precious Metals
      • Gold
      • Silver
    • Battery Metals
      • Lithium
      • Cobalt
      • Graphite
    • Energy
      • Uranium
      • Oil and Gas
    • Base Metals
      • Copper
      • Nickel
      • Zinc
    • Critical Metals
      • Rare Earths
    • Industrial Metals
    • Agriculture
    Tech
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Cybersecurity
      • Gaming
      • Cleantech
      • Emerging Tech
    Life Science
      • Biotech
      • Cannabis
      • Psychedelics
      • Pharmaceuticals

    Featured Precious Metals Stocks

    GoldMoney Inc.

    XAU:CA

    Metallica Metals Corp Com

    MM:CNX

    Champion Bear Resources Ltd.

    CBA:CA

    Braveheart Resources Inc.

    BHT:CA

    Mineworx Technologies Ltd.

    MWX:CA

    St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp

    SX:CNX
    More featured stocks

    Browse Companies

    Resource
    • Precious Metals
    • Battery Metals
    • Energy
    • Base Metals
    • Critical Metals
    Tech
    Life Science
    MARKETS
    COMMODITIES
    CURRENCIES