As a vital supplier of platinum, one of the rarest precious metals on earth, South African mining is one of the most important industries for the electric vehicle market. The country has more than 80% of the reserves of the precious metal, and is the largest producer in the market.
However there is one force which threatens its ability to produce the precious metal, and by extension the advance of the whole EV market – South African metal thieves.
Mining companies have been at war with the thieves for years. Interestingly enough, the thieves pose a threat not for stealing the precious metal itself, but for stealing a much more common metal – copper. Copper is found everywhere, and can easily be sold on the black market, making it far more valuable to thieves.
Platinum is valuable to the EV market because of its ability to withstand high temperatures, which makes it ideal for use in fuel cells. Fuel cells are presently an attractive alternative to battery power for EVs, due to the fact batteries have limited range before they must undergo a lengthy recharging process, whereas hydrogen fuel cells can be refueled with more hydrogen quite quickly. In addition, in long-haul trucking, trucks have the extra space on board to carry more hydrogen, allowing them to quickly and easily extend the length of hauls they can perform without the need to stop to recharge a battery.
Platinum’s utility in fuel cells makes it vital to the progression of EV technology. Growing demand for fuel cell vehicles, such as in China, where the government just announced a target of having 50,000 hydrogen fuel cell cars on the road by 2025, means the EV market will need more platinum, and there is plenty of investment cash to supply it.
This is now bringing the focus on South Africa’s mining industry, and its years-long battle with metal thieves.
Copper theft has been widespread in South Africa for years, throughout the mining, transportation, and telecommunications industries. It has only gotten worse, as the price of the metal has more than tripled since 2015. Its high price, combined with its ubiquity in any area where electricity must be supplied or routed has made it the most attractive target for metal thieves.
South Africa has a robust community of illegal miners, ofttimes undocumented immigrants from other countries, sometimes laid off miners, or anyone who has fallen on hard luck. Called “Zama Zamas” from the Zulu term which means “keep trying” or “gambling,” they often resort to metals theft when their illegal mines fail to produce. And while they get the brunt of the blame for most metal theft, they are but one group involved in the thefts.
Rosalind Morris, an anthropology professor at Columbia University who directed a documentary on the group, said, “Copper theft is performed by many very desperate people, some of whom like to blame it all on zama zamas as there is significant xenophobia in that gesture—but it is a widespread phenomenon across the country.”
Metals thieves often go out heavily armed, even with explosives, and they will hit both abandoned and occupied mines. They can spend days at a time underground, bringing their own provisions, and they will often boobytrap mines where they operate and lay ambushes for mining staff, and even for other thieves.
They do not operate unopposed. The government, and even mining companies launch crackdowns on them. Eight thieves were killed last year in a shootout with Police above a mine in the North West province.
The thieves for their part have grown more sophisticated, even setting up schools to teach their craft to new recruits.
Sibanye-Stillwater mining, the world’s largest primary producer of platinum, had 165 documented cases of theft, beginning in 2021. This has disrupted operations numerous times, and forced more stringent security procedures.
It is expected supply constraints produced by sanctions on Russia will now only feed into the problems of metal theft. And this will only make South African mining become more unstable as an industry.
Data analytics firm Fitch Solutions wrote, “South Africa’s platinum sector will remain prone to strikes and labor unrest over the coming years, as high operational costs constrain wage increases by producers. Looking further ahead, South Africa’s platinum industry will continue to encounter structural challenges relating to high costs and power supply issues, which could constrain long-term growth.”
