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Gold/Mining/Energy : North American Palladium(AMEX:PAL)- PGM Producer -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FooFooTheSnoo who wrote (487)	2/25/2000 8:47:00 AM
From: Sleeper	Respond to of 976

FooFoo, your point is well taken. The scarcity of minable Pd is evidenced by the out of balance supply-and-demand equation, resulting in the severe price volatility. Further, the inability of any other major producer of Pd to rapidly increase their production (save for NAP) speaks volumes. It was with great ease the Russian Mafia cornered the market. By comparison, the Hunt brothers were unable to corner the Silver market in the '80's, due in part to the relative abundance of that metal. And perhaps most telling of all, the article I recently referenced concerning GM's inability to wean itself from Pd usage in catalytic converters means the market will remain tight for some time to come. Sleeper

To: FooFooTheSnoo who wrote (487)	2/25/2000 9:08:00 AM
From: Bruce Robbins	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 976

FooFoo, If you look at the 1998 figures from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries the picture becomes clearer: 1998 Worldwide Production Pt: 155,000 Kg Pd: 125,000 Kg Au: 2,400,000 Kg 1998 Reserves PGE: 71,000,000 Kg (note PGE) Au: 45,000,000 Kg 1998 Reserve Base PGE: 78,000,000 Kg Au: 72,000,000 Kg All of the PGE's in these figures are held mainly by South Africa and Russia. There is not much ability to expand the reserve base for PGE IMO. The gold is produced from too many mines to count and IMO the reserve base can expand substantially with a price rise. The PGE situation makes the OPEC cartel look like a joke. PGE price is definitely controlled by the producers. If only the Russians could get their act together. I'm wondering when they are going to start dumping. Bruce

To: FooFooTheSnoo who wrote (487)	2/28/2000 5:26:00 PM
From: Ptaskmaster	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 976

Managing Director of AngloAmerican Platinum on current Palladium market.- "According to Amplats MD Barry Davison, the big difference between now and the early 90's is that the Russians cannot come into the market as they did then and double or treble their sales volumes.That's what ruined the last platinum bash along with the large scale substitution by the world's car manufacturers of palladium for platinum in the manufacture of autocatalyst to control vehicle emissions. The reason Davison reckons it cannot happen again is because soaring demand for palladium has been met from Russian stockpiles of the metal which have now been run down to critical levels. The world's newly-mined palladium production will not be able to meet demand. "Davison maintains this must mean greater consumption of platinum and rhodium as substitutes for palladium in autocatalyst. The SA companies benefit because they produce far more platinum than palladium...." From 'What to do about Platinum Shares' by Brendan Ryan, posted 02/26 on Miningweb at Moneyweb, complete story at mny.co.za ______________________ So, just what is so special about palladium, anyway? Ptaskmaster