With the price of platinum increasing so much because of the problems in south africa, it would be good to find a company on the LSE that has good production outside of south africa. Can anyone make any suggestions?

Sorry Arthur, but none of the above are LSE listed. However there are a few more options in Zimbabwe if they are not affected by SA power shortage. Three mines are, Unki, operated by Anglo Platignum and listed on Japanese stock exchange. Zimplats, operated by Impala Platignum listed on Japanese stock exchange under the ticker of IMP. Finally Mimosa, operated 50-50 by Impala and Aquarius platignum, which is listed on LSE under AQP. Mimosa produces about 85,000 ozs of platignum per annum. Hope this helps.

AQP has been on my watchlist for several years now. Rising from 2 to 17 in two years, just had a share split 3 for 1, current sp about 5.50.

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Aquarius Platinum Ltd said mining operations at its Kroondal, Marikana and Everest Mines in South Africa were affected by power outages since last Friday and have returned to near normal since Tuesday.

In a statement, the company said it was not yet possible to forecast the total production losses and said the power outages were demanded by Eskom, South Africa's national power utility, due to unusually high rainfall which limited supply of coal from collieries.

The company said Eskom has subsequently agreed to 90 pct of normal power from Thursday.

Aquarius said mining operations at its Mimosa Mine in Zimbabwe have returned to normal after power outages last week and said normal operations at its Everest Mine will see a slow return to normal.

PMCI based in India, but be careful as they are awaiting a court decision to be able to mine there.

30 Jan sp 5.50, 4 Feb sp 7.40. Thats a 35% hike in 2 trading days.

April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Platinum rose as the dollar weakened and as concerns mounted that output may be disrupted from South Africa and Zimbabwe. Palladium fell.

``I don't see the situation in South Africa improving any time soon,'' said Walter Otstott, a senior broker at Dallas Commodity Co. in Dallas. ``Platinum is up because of the dollar, and on sagging confidence in the South African electricity situation being rectified, and supply slackness in Zimbabwe.''

Platinum futures for July delivery rose $17.60, or 0.9 percent, to $2,030.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Still, the metal fell 0.9 percent for the week, following a 9.1 percent gain in the previous week.

Platinum soared 34 percent in the first quarter, more than the 33 percent gain for all of last year, after electricity shortages shut South African mines for five days in January. Power supplies have been limited since then. The metal reached a record $2,308.80 an ounce on March 4. South Africa supplied 78 percent of the world's platinum in 2007, according to manufacturer Johnson Matthey Plc in London.

Palladium futures for June delivery fell $3, or 0.7 percent, to $444.40 an ounce in New York. The price fell 22 percent last month, the most in five years, and 2.3 percent in the past week.

Platinum will probably ``test its all-time high within a couple of months,'' Otstott said, while palladium may rise to $600 an ounce this year. Both metals are used in pollution- control components for vehicles and in jewelry making.