RESPONSIBLE PLATINUM MINING? A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE REPORTS FROM SOUTH AFRICAN MINES

The demand is growing for energy transition minerals (ETMs) due to their use in ‘green technologies’. Platinum is an ETM that is currently used for reduction of harmful emissions from cars within catalytic converters and is required for hydrogen fuel cells. Much of the currently mined platinum is sourced from the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, where a large number of mines extract feldspathic pyroxenite and chromitite for platinum group minerals. These platinum mines are however also associated with environmental degradation and social conflict, including the event that has become known as the Marikana Massacre, with an estimation of 44 lost lives throughout the mine worker’s strike.

In this research, we assess the current state of responsible platinum mining using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reports. We collected ESG ratings reports, published in 2023 for five South African platinum mining companies: Anglo American, Impala Platinum, Northam, Royal Bafokeng and Sibanye-Stillwater. Using the software MAXQDA, we conducted a qualitative content analysis of the ratings reports, coding for effective responsible mining practices. The results indicate that the studied companies are doing best in the categories of community support programs, committing to refraining from operations in protected areas, and biodiversity impact assessments. The practices that have the most room for improvement are local hiring, community impact assessments, natural ecosystem protection programs, and rehabilitation of disturbed areas with continuous operation. None of the companies received high scores for local hiring with none having a 90% percent or higher local workforce, nor community impact assessments with none using free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) principles. This research indicates that South Africa’s platinum mining companies should increase the use of responsible mining practices to prevent continued social conflict and environmental degradation.