The platinum-group elements (PGE: Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir, Pt) are among the most valuable metals in the world. Their myriad uses in electronics, jewerly, catalysis, and the automotive industry have increased PGE demand several fold in the last few decades, but the past few years have been PGE supply largely unable to keep up with the increasing demand. Although the PGE are found in many types of rock bodies, in most cases they are present in such low concentrations that it is not economically feasible to extract them. The few economically mineable deposits generally fall into two categories: layered ultramafic intrusive deposits, such as the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, which contain PGE-bearing ore veins: and copper/nickel-bearing veins, such as the Noril'sk-Talnakh District in Russia, in which the PGE are extracted as a byproduct of Cu/Ni mining. Only one economic PGE deposit exists in the United States(the Stillwater Complex in Montana), and it is small compared to the Russian and South African deposits (which supply most of the world's PGE needs).
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