The price of platinum is surging as violent protests rage outside a South African mine owned by the world's third-largest platinum producer, AP reported. Platinum rose 2.8 percent Thursday to finish at $1,435.20 per ounce. It is used products including automobile catalytic converters and jewelry. Thousands of workers walked off the job at the Lonmin PLC mine in a wage dispute. The company says it's unlikely to meet full-year production targets because of lost work time. The global platinum supply is healthy, and demand has been weak. But prices are up because of speculation that supply may tighten because of the mine conflict. In other trading, prices are higher for gold, copper, oil, wheat and corn. Natural gas and soybeans are lower.
