oa One Hundred and Fifty Years

Since its inception a century and a half ago the firm of Johnson Matthey has played a leading part in the extraction, refining and supply of platinum and its allied metals. To mark this anniversary, Mr McDonald has prepared a full account of the growth of these activities from the days when Percival Norton Johnson established his business, through the early years when the uses of platinum were virtually confined to the laboratory, and on to more recent times when industrial applications are of major importance. In this article the ebb and flow of demand and supply are clearly traced, with Johnson Matthey growing steadily to its present dominant position, jointly with Rustenburg Platinum Mines, as the world’s largest supplier of the platinum metals