JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum group metals (PGMs), which are hosted overwhelmingly in South Africa, are playing a crucial anti-cancer role as well as making a significant overall PGM contribution to the pharmaceuticals sector.

This has been highlighted by Heraeus Precious Metals, following its acquisition of the platinum-based active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) business of Umicore outside of South America.

According to the World Health Organisation, cancer is the cause of nearly one in six deaths and, alarmingly, this number is expected to rise further.

The demand for platinum-based highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs) is on the rise with the number of new cancer cases worldwide predicted to increase from 21.9-million this year to 30.2-million in 2040.

Besides their presence in HPAPIs, PGMs are also very helpful for the synthesis of sophisticated API molecules. HPAPIs are described as the key compounds in chemotherapy because they can target cancer cells accurately, Heraeus informs Mining Weekly.

PGMs company Heraeus Precious Metals in 2023 played a role in around 2.3-million cycles of chemotherapy, involving more than 450 000 patients.

Platinum-based Cisplatin and Carboplatin anti-cancer drugs work primarily by binding with DNA.

Additionally, these drugs can induce oxidative stress and potentially modulate the immune response, enhancing the recognition of cancer cells.

Since the 1970s, Heraeus has been selling a broad portfolio of oncology APIs from Germany to the world.

Platinum APIs, especially Cisplatin, Carboplatin and Oxaliplatin, form the backbone of cancer treatment through chemotherapy.

PLATINUM IN COATINGS FOR ELECTROLYSIS

Earlier this month, Heraeus also signed a memorandum of understanding with Jolt Solutions, a Barcelona-based company specialising in the coating of metallic catalysts for electrochemical applications, to optimize the use of PGMs for proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis, using Jolt’s proprietary Sparkfuze^TM technology.

This faster coating method with low energy demands is scalable and produces surfaces with high catalytic activity and durability.

The two companies aim to explore the use of PGM-based metallic catalysts for PEM water electrolysis. Heraeus Precious Metals sees synergies between the two companies. Whilst utilizing Jolt’s patented electrode production technique to produce electrochemical products, the precious metals expert can use its specialties in PGM trading, hedging, PGM sourcing, recycling and recovery to create a valuable closed loop product offering.

Heraeus EVP Business Line Hydrogen Systems Dr Philipp Walter said Jolt’s technology competence and ability to tackle and quickly scale development projects is “a very good fit to our know-how and service portfolio around PGM applications”.

“We’re looking forward to exploring new business opportunities together,” was the comment of Jolt Solutions CEO Leon Rizzi.

Meanwhile, PEM electrolysers are gaining increasing traction in the transition to a hydrogen economy owing to their dynamic response time.

The production of green hydrogen through PEM electrolysis of water is seen as a very suitable concept to enable storage, transportation and deployment of the produced renewable energy.