In South Africa’s northernmost province, under a cavernous expanse of jagged gray rock, lies a mineral treasure trove that could play a pivotal role in the country’s relationship with global superpowers.
uncertain
that → lie → superpowers
It is from here that South Africa has sought to rebuild a humiliating relationship with Donald Trump’s Washington and bolster a budding one with Beijing, pitching itself as a critical minerals supplier to the rival powers.
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Africa → seek → powers
According to South African government documents and market data reviewed by Semafor, as well as interviews with senior officials and executives, Pretoria is seeking to leverage its role as the world’s dominant supplier of platinum to ingratiate itself with Washington and Beijing at the same time.
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Pretoria → accord → time
The US and China are both seeking to secure access to platinum group metals — prized for withstanding extreme heat, conducting electricity, and resisting corrosion.
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US → seek → corrosion
The US needs platinum for catalytic converters, as it looks to grow its automotive industry based on internal-combustion engines and hybrids, and defense equipment; Beijing to develop green hydrogen as a form of sustainable energy.
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Beijing → need → energy
And both need the metals to build the data centers that will power their AI buildouts.
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that → need → buildouts
Yet the superpowers have taken sharply different approaches to trade policy with Pretoria.
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superpowers → take → Pretoria
Washington slapped a 30% import duty on South African goods last year as part of a wider strategy of trade pressure: Since returning to office last year, US President Donald Trump has accused Pretoria of presiding over a “white genocide” — a discredited claim he repeated during a fractious Oval Office meeting with his South African counterpart.
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he → slap → counterpart
His administration has also demanded the rollback of land expropriation policies and Black Economic Empowerment laws, which were established to redress the legacy of apartheid.
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which → demand → apartheid
Tensions over these issues, exacerbated by Pretoria’s criticism of Israel over its conduct in Gaza, have become a major sticking point.
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Tensions → exacerbate → Gaza
That has helped push Africa’s largest economy closer to China.
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That → help → China
South Africa hosted China and Iran in Beijing-led naval drills this year, a public show of devotion to the BRICS bloc that further fueled Washington’s ire.
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that → host → ire
Beijing, for its part, scrapped levies on South African imports entirely as part of its move this year to extend its zero-tariff policy across the continent.
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Beijing → scrap → continent
At the core of South Africa’s push to reset its ties with the US while maintaining strong relations with China are mines like the giant Mogalakwena site, 150 miles north of Johannesburg and operated by Valterra Platinum.
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mines → reset → Platinum
The world’s largest open-pit mine, dotted with yellow tipper trucks carving out boulders and overlooked by the rose-tinged peaks of Limpopo province’s Waterberg mountains, sits on top of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, a mineral deposit formed around two billion years ago which is now roughly the size of Sri Lanka.
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which → dot → Lanka
The deposit is a geological anomaly, home to around 80% of the world’s known PGM reserves.
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deposit → know → reserves
“If you check all over the world,” Sello Mashabela, a Valterra geologist said as he gazed at the huge pit, “you won’t really find anything like this.”
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you → check → this
Know More
Pretoria has pushed its dominant position in the PGM space — the second-largest reserves of the metals are found in Russia, and therefore functionally off-limits to Western firms because of sanctions over the Ukraine war — to the core of its trade policy.
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reserves → know → policy
In a document published in May and reviewed by Semafor, full details of which have not been previously reported, South Africa’s trade ministry emphasized the importance of PGMs to US industry when making the case for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a trade agreement, to be extended by 15 years.
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Act → publish → years
“South Africa supplies the United States with 12 of the 50 minerals identified by the United States Geological Survey as critical for United States interests,” the ministry wrote in a submission to the Office of the US Trade Representative, arguing that materials such as PGM metals “are important to United States production and technological advancement, and South Africa has maintained reliable supply.”
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Africa → supply → supply
It urged the US to pursue an “investment-led trade strategy” that included local processing in Africa.
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that → urge → Africa
In a separate document dated May 15, 2026, also seeking an AGOA extension, Business Unity South Africa, the country’s largest trade body, stressed PGMs were “essential to US manufacturing, defence, technology, and the energy transition.”
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PGMs → date → manufacturing
That push fell short: US lawmakers this month voted to extend the AGOA pact, but by just two years.
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lawmakers → fall → years
Yet officials are not giving up.
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officials → give → ?
South Africa’s ministry of trade, industry, and competition told Semafor that critical minerals were a central part of the country’s trade negotiations with Washington.
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minerals → tell → Washington
Kaamil Alli, spokesman for the country’s trade minister, said South African officials were holding discussions with US companies interested in securing critical mineral supplies.
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officials → say → supplies
Pretoria wants American investors to build smelters, factories, and processing facilities in South Africa, rather than relying principally on conventional offtake agreements with local mines.
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investors → want → mines
“We understand you want these minerals for particular reasons, but this is our goal,” Alli said, describing Pretoria’s pitch.
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Alli → understand → pitch
“Come and let’s have a mutually beneficial relationship where you undertake processing in South Africa.”
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you → come → Africa
Alli said talks on this issue were expected to continue in New York during the United Nations General Assembly this week.
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talks → say → Assembly
Senior South African trade officials plan to meet US business representatives, while Trade Minister Parks Tau is also likely to hold talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
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Tau → plan → Greer
Alexis’s view
The differing approaches between the US and China to court South Africa speaks volumes about Pretoria’s relationship with the world’s two largest economies — and the strategic priorities of all three.
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approaches → differ → three
Both superpowers use PGMs — a group of metals that include platinum and which are typically found in the same deposits — to build data centers: Platinum and ruthenium are used in the electronic components inside AI-training hardware, while iridium plays a key role in advanced chipmaking processes.
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iridium → use → processes
China has calculated that it needs these elements to meet its strategic goal of building a network of state-run data centers to integrate AI into 90% of its economy by 2030.
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it → calculate → 2030
But Washington and Beijing differ starkly in how and why they use platinum in their energy strategies.
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they → differ → strategies
The Trump administration’s cuts to subsidies for electric vehicles has driven imports of platinum and palladium for catalytic converters needed for gasoline-powered cars.
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cuts → drive → cars
China, by contrast, values platinum for green hydrogen technology, a form of clean energy that it identified as a “future industry” in its most recent five-year plan.
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it → value → plan
Beijing is making a big bet on green hydrogen, more than tripling its annual operational capacity since the end of 2024, Bloomberg reported.
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Bloomberg → make → 2024
Valterra — which was spun out of Anglo American last year — forecast that an expanded push to green hydrogen could add 6 million ounces of demand a year, more than enough to offset shrinking auto-catalyst vehicle sales.
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push → spin → sales
Indeed, Chinese customs data shows a sharp rise in imports of unprocessed platinum and palladium over the past five years, an approach in keeping with a playbook that involves importing raw materials for local processing.
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that → show → processing
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
