How to invest in platinum

Platinum is used to make jewellery, particularly rings. But this dense and durable grey-coloured metal is also found in catalytic converters on vehicles, and traces of it can even be found in some dental fillings and mobile phones.

Platinum is much rarer and harder to mine than gold and silver, which makes it a more expensive commodity to buy. Here are 3 different ways you can invest in platinum.

Most people think of gold when it comes to shiny chunks of bullion, but you can also buy platinum bullion.

This can come in the form of coins (usually available to purchase from official government mints) or bars.

A platinum bullion bar can weigh from one ounce up to one kilogram or more, and is usually accompanied by a form of assay card or a certificate of authenticity, which contains various details on its purity and origin.

Platinum bullion is of a finer purity than the platinum found in jewellery and should be at least 99.95% pure (also referred to in the industry as 999.5 or .9995 pure).

Remember to check that you are buying bullion from a reputable dealer, and also factor in that you will probably want to pay for the cost of secure storage.

Investing in platinum ETFs

For investors looking to the stock market to make returns from platinum, then ETFs (or exchange traded funds) are an option to consider.

These are funds that invest in a basket of different things – such as equities, bonds and commodities – and you can find more detailed information on them in Finder’s ETF guide.

ETFs are a popular choice among both novice and experienced investors, because they can help diversify portfolios and reduce risk by collectively investing in a range of assets. And they also have the ability to hone in on specific industries or commodities, if that is what you’re looking for.

There are various platinum-focused funds to choose from on the world’s stock markets, which will invest in things like platinum bullion, platinum futures contracts or platinum mining companies.

Major platinum ETFs include:

• Aberdeen Standard Platinum Shares EFT (NYSEArca: PPLT)
• GraniteShares Platinum Trust (NYSEArca: PLTM)
• iPath Series B Bloomberg Platinum Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSEArca: PGM)

But if you’d like a more limited exposure to platinum then there are also funds that include platinum as part of their wider investment portfolios, or ETFs that track the precious metals sector as a whole.

Buying shares in platinum mining companies

If you’re more interested in buying specific shares in platinum-related companies, then purchasing stocks in platinum mining companies could be for you.

As platinum is scarcer and more difficult to extract than gold or silver, there are fewer mining companies in this part of the precious metals sector, but some of the world’s largest platinum mining firms include:

The financial performance of any mining company can depend on a number of factors, such as demand for the metal being mined; a fluctuation in global prices for the raw material; availability of the raw material, for example, if certain mining seams begin to run out; environmental issues surrounding the mining process; local issues affecting the mining extraction, for example, civil unrest or a striking workforce; and wider economic global issues, such as a recession.

If you want to start investing either in EFTs or company shares, you can do so through a broker or by signing up to a share trading platform. Weigh up your options by reading our investment guides, and compare share trading platforms using the table below.

Platinum performance

The graph below shows more recent data on the value of platinum (prices are in US dollars).

In March 2008, the price of platinum peaked at around USD$2,252 but fell to USD$774 by November. In the last 5-year period, platinum peaked at a price of USD$1,293 per ounce in February 2021, which was up from USD$622 in March 2020.

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Frequently asked questions

• Where is platinum mined?

  Three-quarters of the world’s platinum is currently mined in South Africa, but the other main countries where it is extracted are Canada, the United States, Zimbabwe and Russia.

• Are there any platinum penny stocks?

  Yes. Some of these include Eastern Platinum Limited (TSX: ELR), Jervois Mining Limited (TSXV: JRV), New Age Metals Inc. (TSXV: NAM) and Mene Inc. (TSXV: MENE).