Access at the source
South Africa holds the overwhelming majority of global platinum group metal reserves. Historically the high-value chemistry happened offshore, in a small number of concentrated processors. We do it here.
Markets we serve
Eight industries. One chemistry platform.
Platinum group metals sit inside far more of the modern economy than most people realise — from the catalytic converter on a truck to the interconnects inside a semiconductor.
Why breadth matters
A platform that does not depend on any single end market.
Isondo's upstream chemistry and downstream refining are sector-agnostic. The same precursor synthesis that feeds an electrolyser catalyst also feeds an autocatalyst washcoat, a pharmaceutical coupling catalyst, a medical electrode and a semiconductor deposition precursor.
That breadth de-risks the business. Mature, high-volume sectors — autocatalysts, petrochemical refining, glass — provide a revenue-generating commercial base today, while the same capability is positioned for the fastest-growing demand vectors in clean energy and advanced electronics.
It also de-risks our customers. A partner qualifying Isondo for one compound gains access to chemistry across all five platinum group metals from a single, policy-backed source.
The markets
Where our chemistry ends up.
Our customers span pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, petrochemicals, electronics and semiconductors, automotive, glass and ceramics, mining and metallurgy, medical devices, and the emerging green hydrogen sector. Each draws on a different combination of the five metals.
Market 01
Automotive & autocatalysts
The largest existing demand sink for platinum group metals.
Three-way and diesel oxidation catalysts consume palladium, rhodium and platinum at volume. It is a mature, high-throughput sector with well-established chemistry — and one where end-of-life converters represent a significant secondary source of metal.
| Metals used | Palladium, rhodium, platinum |
|---|---|
| Application | Three-way and diesel oxidation catalysts |
| Isondo supplies | Washcoat chemicals; spent-converter recycling and refining |
Market 02
Petrochemicals & refining
Process catalysis at industrial scale.
Reforming, hydrogenation and propane dehydrogenation all depend on platinum and palladium catalysts whose activity and stability are difficult to substitute. Spent catalyst from these processes carries recoverable metal value.
| Metals used | Platinum, palladium |
|---|---|
| Application | Reforming, hydrogenation, PDH catalysts |
| Isondo supplies | Catalysts and precursors; spent-catalyst recovery |
Market 03
Pharmaceutical & fine chemicals
The catalysis behind modern drug synthesis.
Cross-coupling and hydrogenation catalysis underpins a large share of pharmaceutical manufacturing routes, drawing on palladium, ruthenium, rhodium and platinum. Platinum chemistry also feeds oncology active pharmaceutical ingredients directly.
| Metals used | Palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, platinum |
|---|---|
| Application | Cross-coupling and hydrogenation catalysis |
| Isondo supplies | Speciality PGM chemicals, homogeneous and supported catalysts, residue recovery |
Market 04
Green hydrogen & fuel cells
Where iridium and platinum do the electrochemical work.
PEM electrolysers and fuel cells depend on iridium and platinum catalysts to drive the reactions at their core. This is the market where Isondo is vertically integrated all the way to the finished assembly — catalyst, ink, coated membrane, MEA and stack.
| Metals used | Iridium, platinum |
|---|---|
| Application | PEM electrolyser and fuel cell catalysts, MEAs |
| Isondo supplies | Catalysts, CCMs, MEAs and stacks |
Market 05
Glass & ceramics
High-temperature and electrode applications.
Platinum-rhodium bushings shape molten glass at temperatures few materials survive. Mixed metal oxide anodes built on ruthenium and iridium serve chlor-alkali and electrochemical processing, while palladium supports multilayer ceramic capacitors.
| Metals used | Platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, palladium |
|---|---|
| Application | Bushings; MMO anodes; MLCC |
| Isondo supplies | Refining; ruthenium, iridium and palladium chemicals |
Market 06 · Highest-growth vector
Electronics & semiconductors
The fastest-growing demand vector for PGM chemistry.
As device geometries shrink, ruthenium is displacing older materials in interconnects, with iridium, platinum and palladium used across electrodes, capping and storage layers. These applications demand electronic-grade purity and specialised ALD and CVD precursors — chemistry produced at scale in only a handful of locations worldwide.
It is the clearest example of why cleanroom-grade production capability matters as much as access to the metal.
| Metals used | Ruthenium, iridium, platinum, palladium |
|---|---|
| Application | Interconnects, electrodes, capping and storage layers |
| Isondo supplies | Ruthenium, iridium and platinum precursor chemicals; recovery of residues and targets |
Market 07
Mining & metallurgy
Back to the industry the metal came from.
The sector that mines and refines platinum group metals is itself a customer for PGM chemistry and analytical capability — from process reagents through to the assay work that settles a shipment between two parties.
| Metals used | All five PGMs |
|---|---|
| Application | Process chemistry, metal accounting, umpire assay |
| Isondo supplies | Specialty chemicals; accredited analytical and umpire assay services |
Market 08
Medical devices
Where biocompatibility is not negotiable.
Platinum and its alloys are used in implantable electrodes, catheters and diagnostic components because they are inert in the body and conduct reliably. Platinum chemistry also feeds oncology active pharmaceutical ingredients directly.
| Metals used | Platinum, palladium, iridium |
|---|---|
| Application | Implantable electrodes and components; diagnostics; oncology APIs |
| Isondo supplies | High-purity precursor chemistry to specification |
The common thread
Every one of these industries buys the same thing from us.
Whatever the end application, what a customer is really securing is high-purity platinum group metal chemistry, at source, from the world's richest reserve base.
All five metals
Platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and iridium chemistry from a single supplier, so a qualification programme opens the whole portfolio rather than one compound.
The metal comes back
Our recovery and refining route, currently in development, is designed to take back spent catalyst, process residues and end-of-life material — giving customers a recoverable residual value and closing the loop.
Which of these is your industry?
Tell us the application, the compound and the purity grade you work to, and our technical team will come back on what we can supply and when.