Japan state firm to auction stake in platinum mine

Tokyo

JAPAN'S investment several years ago in a promising platinum deposit in South Africa is about to pay off in a big way for Japanese carmakers. State-run Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (Jogmec) is preparing to auction its 28 per cent stake in the project, potentially to Japanese trading houses who sell the metal to carmakers. In turn, they use the platinum in catalytic converters that reduce harmful tailpipe emissions at a time when environmental rules are becoming increasingly stricter.

The auction, expected to occur by April, comes as many older South Africa mines near exhaustion. The new mine will access a Waterberg deposit with metallic layers more than 30 times thicker than what's typically found in the region, ensuring a stable supply of the metal for years to come. "We saw that if South African supply drops, it would be a major headache for Japanese carmakers," said Taro Kabashima, an executive at Jogmec, as the state-owned company is known.