The largest use of palladium today is in catalytic converters. Palladium is also used in jewelry, dentistry, watch making, blood sugar test strips, aircraft spark plugs, surgical instruments, and electrical contacts. Palladium is also used to make professional transverse (concert or classical) flutes.
Palladium has been found uncombined in nature, in Brazil, but most is found in sulfide minerals such as braggite. It is extracted commercially as a by-product of nickel refining. It is also extracted as a by-product of copper and zinc refining.
Nitric acid can be used to perform a quick test to differentiate between palladium and silver. Palladium won't react to nitric acid, whereas silver will oxidize and turn a light brown color. It's important to remember to always use protective gloves and eyewear when working with any type of acid.
According to the International Platinum Group Metals Association, in the electronics sector, most palladium is used for multi-layer ceramic (chip) capacitors (MLCC). MLCCs store energy in electronic devices such as broadcasting equipment, mobile telephones, computers, electronic lighting and high voltage circuits.
Shape, Size, & Color
With palladium sheets, the color is more like a gray powder than shiny silver. However, palladium coins, rings, earrings, and bars have a soft silver-white color. The silvery-white hue of palladium makes it very attractive and popular with buyers. It's typically whiter than platinum.
In terms of abundance in the Earth's crust, the rarest metals are: gold, platinum, osmium, iridium, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, tellurium and rhenium.
The largest use of palladium today is in catalytic converters. Palladium is also used in jewelry, dentistry, watch making, blood sugar test strips, aircraft spark plugs, surgical instruments, and electrical contacts. Palladium is also used to make professional transverse (concert or classical) flutes.
South Africa
South Africa is the world's top platinum-mining country and a major producer of palladium. It holds the largest-known reserves of PGMs globally at 63 million kilograms.
Rhodium is used for several different things, such as automobiles, jewelry, searchlights, electronics and mirrors.
Industrial and precious metals explorer Midas Minerals (ASX: MM1) has uncovered a likely find of platinum and palladium (PGE) deposits at its Challa Project near Mt Magnet, Western Australia.
Palladium is generally found only in pure form, and along with platinum is found in sulfide concentrations in mafic igneous rocks It is mined in Russia, the USA(Montana), Zimbabwe, Australia, Canada and Finland.
Currently palladium is the metal used in petrol vehicle catalytic converters, with about 2-7 grams per unit, depending on the vehicle in question.
Palladium is often used in cell phone and laptop components, and it's also found in ceramic capacitors having multiple layers. Due to the metal's high level of conductivity, manufacturers commonly include it in the connector plates of a variety of electronic products.
Palladium is regarded as of low toxicity, being poorly adsorbed by the body when ingested. It may cause skin, eye or respiratory tract irritation, may cause skin sensitisation. Liquid may cause burns to skin and eyes.
The rarest unstable metal on Earth is the highly radioactive and unusable Francium (Fr). In fact, Francium is so unstable that its longest-lasting radioactive isotope, francium-223, has a half-life of just 22 minutes, making it completely unusable for any human use.
Platinum is 30 times more rare than gold. If all the platinum ever mined were melted and poured into an Olympic-sized pool, the platinum would barely reach your ankles.
1. RHODIUM: TOP MOST VALUABLE METAL. Rhodium is the most valuable metal and exists within the platinum group of metals. It is used in jewelry for a final finish on white gold jewelry.
You can find palladium scrap in many different items. A couple places to look include: Palladium alloys used for manufacturing: Look out for palladium sponges, palladium flakes, palladium sputter and sputtering targets. Palladium jewelry items: This can include rings, chains, bracelets, jewelry scrap.
Like most other precious metals, Palladium does scratch. Despite being harder than Platinum, it will nevertheless pick up scratches.
In the United States, you can find palladium in Montana's Stillwater Mine, which is the only palladium and platinum producer in the nation. Elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere, you can find uncombined palladium in Brazil. Most of the palladium that gets extracted is a byproduct of nickel refinement.