Marula mine. (Image courtesy of Impala Platinum)
The current rally in prices of platinum group metals does not justify new mining projects given the industry still faces the long-term threat from the growing adoption of electric vehicles, Impala Platinum CEO Nico Muller said on Thursday.
Unlike conventional vehicles, electric cars do not need emission-curbing catalytic converters, which have been for decades a key source of demand for platinum.
The precious metal’s prices more than doubled in 2025 and hit a record of more than $2,700 an ounce in late January, amid tight supply from major producer South Africa.
The European Union’s U-turn on a 2035 combustion-engine ban has also supported prices.
“I think that there is, amongst the major producers, consensus that the long-term supply profile and demand profile is probably too closely aligned to one another to warrant greenfield projects at this point,” Muller said during a results call.
He said although the growth in electric vehicles had been slower than earlier projections, it remained the biggest threat to the industry.
“It’s not about the price point that we’re experiencing today. We’re all very delighted about that. We don’t believe that the long-term outlook justifies new greenfields,” Muller said.
He said Impala would, however, extend the life of some of its South African shafts to maintain the group’s current annual levels of production between 3.4 million and 3.6 million ounces of platinum group metals, which also include metals such as palladium and iridium.
Impala is also exploring further extending its Canadian palladium mine, which was initially scheduled to close in May 2026, beyond the new April 2027 deadline, after it returned to profitability.
Earlier on Thursday, Impala reported a fivefold increase in half-year profit, driven by higher metal prices which helped the company boost its dividend payout.
Its headline earnings soared to 9.3 billion rand ($567.36 million) in the six months to December 31 from 1.9 billion rand previously.
Impala declared an interim dividend of 4.10 rand per share, returning 3.7 billion rand to shareholders. The company skipped an interim dividend last year, but has restored payouts after the metal price rally.
($1 = 16.3917 rand)
(By Nelson Banya; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Tomasz Janowski)