South Africa's Bushveld mining complex will tomorrow celebrate 100 years since platinum was first discovered in the region.

It was on November 10th 1906 that gold-company consulting metallurgist William Bettel first documented the presence of platinum in South Africa's Bushveld complex.

In an article in the weekly Johannesburg journal, South African Mines, Commerce and Industries, Mr Bettel announced that platinum existed in the area.

However, it was not until 1924 that an exploration by Hans Merensky found the platinum.

Mr Bettel, who was the chief chemist at the Robertson gold mine in Johannesburg at the time, discovered platinum when analysing a "black sand" concentrate from a stamp battery at a gold mine in Klerksdorp.

In his report, Mr Bettel said that the concentrate contained "silver, gold, platinum and iridium (with osmium)", confirming for the first time that platinum existed in the area.

In the past 100 years, Africa has become the largest producer of platinum in the world, with the Bushveld complex making a massive contribution to that output.

Ÿ Adfero Ltd