The Environmental Profile of Platinum Group Metals Interpretation of the results of a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of the production of pgms and the benefits of their use in a selected application

The International Platinum Group Metals Association (IPA) carried out the first ever industry-wide life cycle assessment on platinum group metals (pgms) which included data from a majority of the industry in both primary and secondary production, as well as one major application of pgms, i.e. their use in a car exhaust catalyst. The results, discussed in this paper, identify that the major impact (72%) of the production of pgms on the environment is from power consumption during mining and ore beneficiation; they also demonstrate that the impacts of pgm production are mitigated by the use of pgm-based automotive catalysts. The exercise provides benchmarking for the industry and a greater understanding of the impacts and benefits of pgms.