Global PGM mining during 40 years a stable corporate landscape of oligopolistic control
The platinum group mining industry is among the most concentrated of all metal mining industries. The Herfindahl Hirschman Index for palladium is 2413 in 2014, on the threshold to what is defined as "highly concentrated" When considering that production is also concentrated in a few countries, more than 80 of total world production is mined in South Africa and Russia, it is obvious that platinum group metals (PGMs) are labelled "critical" by many governments such as the EU, Japan and the USA (EU Commission 2014; National Research Council 2008; Prime Minister of Japan 2015) The development of the corporate structure for PGMs is analysed. Into the future, it looks as if the degree of concentration will decrease.