Platinum is on track for the best quarter in over a year, as demand for the metal as an alternative to gold has nudged prices up 23 per cent. Platinum’s premium to gold stood at $213.15 an ounce yesterday, compared with $1,041.83 a year ago.
Premium Exploration Inc. reported today that the PGM anomalies previously reported at the Chrome Mountain PGM project were formed by the same type of processes that formed the Platreef PGM deposits in South Africa.
Colossus Minerals Inc. announced results including 7.88 metres of 406g/t gold, 98.4g/t platinum, 115.7g/t palladium, 2.74g/t rhodium, and 1.52g/t iridium at a depth of 252 metres. The Serra Pelada project is located in Para State, Brazil. These results are not true width and the release indicates that true width is not known.
Platinum rebounded early in ’09, and came back into the four digits, the metal’s highest value in over 12 weeks. In 2008 the metal went on a wild ride, hitting a peak of $2,290 per ounce, and then came crashing down to a three digit value. Despite the metal starting the year on a good note, RBC capital markets has cut its platinum price forecast for the next two years.
Platinum has shed 45 per cent of its value in just nine months. Last Friday the spot price of platinum hit a low of $812.75 per oz. Now, for this first time in 12 years gold has surpassed platinum in value.
The sharp retreat of the stock market, combined with a higher US dollar has triggered a broad sell-off in the precious metals. Spot platinum slipped to a session low of $794.50 an ounce, down 8.8 per cent from $871.50 an ounce late on Friday.
Platinum has been on a steady downgrade, falling since trading at a record $2,301.50 an ounce in March. A poor economic outlook eroding demand for jewelry and cars is responsible for the metal's flop.
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