Every Friday, SAfm’s radio anchor Sakina Kamwendo speaks to Martin Creamer, publishing editor of Engineering News & Mining Weekly. Reported here is this Friday’s At the Coalface transcript:

Kamwendo: South Africa is being viewed as prime candidate for new energy development.

Creamer: Yes, we need to declare some sort of energy independence. The world is looking very extraordinary and extraordinary steps are now having to be taken. We know that after the Second World War, people wanted to go into hydrogen big time, but then they said, well, there is enough oil coming from the Middle East. At this point in time the Middle East is in quite a different situation.

At all the sustainability summits that are being held, many of them in Africa, many of them in the Middle East itself, they are saying Africa is an ideal candidate and South Africa, particularly, to go into hydrogen development as an energy source. We know that we have got superior sun. We know that we' have got very good wind corridors. We know we have even got fast moving rivers, but our coastline is huge as well. So, we can get access to the sea. We can turn that into green hydrogen and green hydrogen can be used in so many different energy applications. Besides giving us energy independence, they will give us clean energy, which the world is looking for at the moment,

Kamwendo:  Extremely robust investment demand for platinum is expected in 2026

Creamer: In this extraordinary world geopolitics all over, people are running for safe havens, and they run first for gold. They get that and then they see that rise in price to such an extent that they look at what is the next in line and they run for platinum. So,we have seen very, very strong investment demand for platinum.

But, the forecast from the World Platinum Investment Council, which is normally very cautious, is that there’s going to be an extremely robust investment demand for platinum in 2026, because of all the turmoil going around and the different trade patterns and the need for people to grab onto absolute assets and not currency. As a result, they are forecasting a fivefold increase in the acquisition of platinum bar and platinum coins in 2026.

Kamwendo: South Africa’s Northam Platinum is encouraged by big rollout of the hydrogen economy in China.

Creamer: We get reports of Chinese hydrogen activity a lot, but South African eyes don't normally see them firsthand. Because Northern Platinum works through a Japanese company, and the Japanese company is in touch with China, they were invited over to go and see firsthand what is happening. The word they use to describe it is “incredible”. There are so many trucks driving around there powered by hydrogen, there is just an big move on in China, a five-year move.

Even though they starting with coal-based hydrogen, like we have got at Sasol, the plan is then to move to green hydrogen. So, you have a situation of the platinum company, like Northern Platinum, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, sending a team in and being able to tell the journalists, be able to tell at their presentations, that more people should go and have a look at what’s happening in China, because the move in hydrogen is very encouraging.

Kamwendo: Thanks very much. Martin Creamer is publishing, editor of Engineering News & Mining Weekly.