Platinum's premium to gold widens to 17-mth high on Zimbabwe

London, Feb 13 (Bloomberg) Platinum rose for a second day today, widening its premium to gold to a 17-month high, on concern supply may fall after Zimbabwe seized land from the country�s top miner of the metal. Platinum rose 0.3 per cent to 1,723 dollar an ounce. It reached 1,742.80 dollar, the highest since September 22, 2011, while gold lost 0.3 per cent to 1,646.88 dollar a ounce. Silver fell 0.4 per cent to 30.98 dollar an ounce. Zimbabwe, the third-biggest platinum producer in 2011, repossessed about 69,000 acres of land from Zimplats Holdings to offer to new investors, Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said. Platinum is up 12 per cent this year as Anglo American Platinum, the biggest producer, said it plans to cut output. Most Asian markets are closed for the Lunar New Year. One ounce of platinum bought as much as 1.0479 ounces of gold in today, the most since August 2011. Palladium added 0.1 per cent to 773.08 dollar an ounce, after reaching 775.26 dollar, the highest since Sept. 5, 2011. It is mined alongside platinum and both are used mainly in car pollution control devices. (Bloomberg) RS MR 02131815 NNNN