Lisa Wright is a business reporter with the Toronto Star, which has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on Canada’s federal and provincial politics as well as shaping public opinion.
What does a junior Toronto mining company have in common with avant-garde fashion designer Vivienne Westwood? They both dig palladium.
The rare precious metal has always flown under the radar compared to its more glamorous cousins gold and platinum, but lately it’s a lot hotter. Palladium quietly became the best performing metal last year, nearly doubling in value amid a scorching hot resources market.
Yet it’s still just half the price of traditional trinket ingredients gold and platinum, which is helping to push the relatively unknown white metal into the mainstream.
The fact that it’s also eco-friendly – think emission-reducing catalytic converters in cars – prompted Westwood to launch her first-ever jewelry line. The oversized yet lightweight palladium baubles debuted this spring in an effort to offer more affordable designer bling to the masses.
“It’s the rarest of the precious metals, and there’s no real substitute for it” as there are for most other metals, says Bill Biggar, chief executive of North American Palladium Ltd. in Toronto.