Anglo Platinum
Encyclopedia
Anglo Platinum Limited is the world's largest primary producer of platinum
, accounting for about 38% of the world's annual. The company, based in South Africa, was previously called "Anglo American Platinum Corporation Limited". Anglo Platinum expects to produce approximately 2.9 million ounces (approx. 82214 kilogram) of refined platinum in 2006.
Most of the group's operations lie to the northwest and northeast of Johannesburg
. The majority of the company's operations take place in the Bushveld complex, a large region that contains a range of mineral commodities including chromium, vanadium
, titaniferous magnetite
and platinum group metals.
In August 2007, British charity War on Want
published a report accusing Anglo Platinum's parent company Anglo American of profiting from the abuse of people in the developing countries in which the company operates. In the report, Anglo Platinum is accused of displacing communities in South Africa, including forcing the entire Magobading community off its land and into the Mecklenberg township.
Anglo Platinum's products includes:
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
, accounting for about 38% of the world's annual. The company, based in South Africa, was previously called "Anglo American Platinum Corporation Limited". Anglo Platinum expects to produce approximately 2.9 million ounces (approx. 82214 kilogram) of refined platinum in 2006.
Most of the group's operations lie to the northwest and northeast of Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. The majority of the company's operations take place in the Bushveld complex, a large region that contains a range of mineral commodities including chromium, vanadium
Vanadium
Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery gray, ductile and malleable transition metal. The formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the metal against oxidation. The element is found only in chemically combined form in nature...
, titaniferous magnetite
Magnetite
Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...
and platinum group metals.
History
Anglo Platinum came into being in 1995 when the company Johannesburg Consolidated Investments unbundled. The platinum interests of the company became Amplats, later to be renamed the Anglo Platinum Corporation Limited. Although Anglo American is a major shareholder in Anglo Platinum, the latter is listed as a separate company on the JSE Securities Exchange, and on the London and Brussels Bourses.Controversy
Anglo Platinum, the world's largest platinum miner and a subsidiary of Anglo American PLC, the world's fifth largest mining corporation, filed SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) against a South African public interest lawyer Richard Spoor, who represented indigenous communities affected by platinum mining on tribal land. The actions include an application in the High Court for a so-called gagging order, ostensibly to prevent him further injuring the good name and reputation of the corporation, the lodging of complaints with the Law Society of unprofessional behaviour and the lodging of a civil action for damages for some $500,000. Anglo Platinum also obtained an ex parte (without notice) order interdicting two tribal chiefs from interfering with their mining operations and had them arrested on charges of intimidation and trespass. Subsequently, followers of the two tribal chiefs were shot, beaten and arrested for protesting the mine's presence on tribal land.In August 2007, British charity War on Want
War on Want
War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London, England. It seeks to highlight the needs of poverty-stricken areas around the world and lobbies governments and international agencies to tackle problems as well as raising public awareness of the concerns of developing nations while...
published a report accusing Anglo Platinum's parent company Anglo American of profiting from the abuse of people in the developing countries in which the company operates. In the report, Anglo Platinum is accused of displacing communities in South Africa, including forcing the entire Magobading community off its land and into the Mecklenberg township.
Operations and products
The company's major facilities and production areas include:- Rustenburg production area
- Amandelbult production area
- Union production area
- Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mines
- Potgietersrus Platinum Mines
- Lebowa Platinum Mines
- Modikwa Platinum Mine
- Kroondal Pooling and Shared Agreement
- Polokwane Smelter
- Waterval Smelter
- Rustenburg base metals and precious metals refiners
Anglo Platinum's products includes:
- PlatinumPlatinumPlatinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
- PalladiumPalladiumPalladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...
- RhodiumRhodiumRhodium is a chemical element that is a rare, silvery-white, hard and chemically inert transition metal and a member of the platinum group. It has the chemical symbol Rh and atomic number 45. It is composed of only one isotope, 103Rh. Naturally occurring rhodium is found as the free metal, alloyed...
- IridiumIridiumIridium is the chemical element with atomic number 77, and is represented by the symbol Ir. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum family, iridium is the second-densest element and is the most corrosion-resistant metal, even at temperatures as high as 2000 °C...
- RutheniumRutheniumRuthenium is a chemical element with symbol Ru and atomic number 44. It is a rare transition metal belonging to the platinum group of the periodic table. Like the other metals of the platinum group, ruthenium is inert to most chemicals. The Russian scientist Karl Ernst Claus discovered the element...
- OsmiumOsmiumOsmium is a chemical element with the symbol Os and atomic number 76. Osmium is a hard, brittle, blue-gray or blue-blacktransition metal in the platinum family, and is the densest natural element. Osmium is twice as dense as lead. The density of osmium is , slightly greater than that of iridium,...
- Gold
- Copper
- Nickel
- Cobalt sulfate