What comes to our mind when we hear the word expensive? Gold, Platinum? Yes, these are among the most expensive metal in the world. But there are other metals which are equally precious metals in the world. Some of these are very scarce on Earth, and hence costly to produce.
On the periodic table of elements, most of these most precious metals in the world come under the ‘transition metals’ group.
Here’s a list of the top 10 most expensive metals in the world.
1. Rhodium
The chemical element rhodium has the symbol Rh and the atomic number 45. It is a very rare transition metal that is silvery-white, hard, and corrosion-resistant. It is a platinum group metal and a noble metal. There is only one naturally occurring isotope of it: 103Rh.
Rhodium occurs naturally as a free metal or as an alloy with other metals, and only rarely as a chemical compound in minerals such as bowieite and rhodplumsite. It is one of the most valuable and rare precious metals. Rhodium is the most expensive metal in the world.
Applications: Used as a catalytic convertor, in jewelry and decorations, in electrical contacts, in optical instruments, as filters in mammography, as automobile headlight reflectors etc.
Largest producers: South Africa, Russia, Canada, and other countries.
2. Platinum
Platinum has the chemical symbol Pt and the atomic number 78. It is a silverish-white transition metal that is dense, malleable, ductile, and highly unreactive. It gets its name from the Spanish platina, which is a diminutive of plata, which means “silver.” Platinum belongs to the platinum group and group 10 of the periodic table of elements. It has six isotopes that occur naturally.
It is one of the rarer elements in the Earth’s crust, with an average abundance of about 5 μg/kg. Platinum is the second most expensive metal in the world.
Applications: as a catalyst, as standard (international prototype meter), used as a tradeable commodity, as electrodes, etc.
Largest producers: South Africa, Russia, Canada, and other mineral processing countries.
3. Gold
Gold has the chemical symbol Au and the atomic number 79. As a result, it is one of the higher atomic number elements found in nature. In its pure form, it is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element chemically. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and, under normal conditions, is solid. Gold is frequently found in its native state, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits.
It remains one of the most popular metals and investment options due to its desirability, durability, and malleability. Gold is the third most expensive metal in the world.
Applications: Jewelry, in electronics, in medicine, on food, in photography, as reflector, as radiation shield etc.
Largest producers: South Africa, the United States, Australia, and China.
4. Ruthenium
Ruthenium has the chemical symbol Ru and the atomic number 44. It is a rare transition metal in the periodic table’s platinum group. Ruthenium, like the other platinum group metals, is chemically inert to most other elements. Scientist of Baltic-German descent born in Russia Karl Ernst Claus discovered ruthenium at Kazan State University in 1844 and named it after Russia. Ruthenium is commonly found as a trace element in platinum ores.
Applications: used in electrical contacts, used as catalyst and other emerging applications like solar cells and superconductors.
Largest producers: Russia, North and South America, and Canada.
5. Iridium
Iridium is a chemical element with the atomic number 77 and the symbol Ir. It is the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density of 22.56 g/cm3. It is a very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group.
Iridium is one of the most corrosion-resistant metals, even at temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius. It is extracted from platinum ore and as a byproduct of nickel mining.
In 1803, iridium was discovered among insoluble impurities in natural platinum. Iridium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth’s crust, with only 3 tonnes produced and consumed each year (6.6 thousand pounds).
Applications: used as alloying agent, used for multipored spinnerets, in electrical contacts, as catalysts, in medical imaging, in photocatalysis and OLEDs, as weight standard etc.
Largest producers: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Canada and Russia.
6. Osmium
Osmium is a chemical element with the symbol Os and the atomic number 76. It is a bluish-white transition metal in the platinum group that is found as a trace element in alloys, primarily in platinum ores. The densest naturally occurring element is osmium. It has a density of 22.59 g/cm3 as measured experimentally using X-ray crystallography.
Applications: Its alloys with platinum, iridium, and other platinum-group metals are used by manufacturers to make fountain pen nib tipping, electrical contacts, and other applications that require extreme durability and hardness.
Largest producers: Parts of Russia and North and South America.
7. Palladium
Palladium has the chemical symbol Pd and the atomic number 46. It is a rare and gleaming silvery-white metal discovered by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston in 1803. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was named after the Greek goddess Athena’s epithet, which she obtained when she slew Pallas.
Palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium are elements of the platinum group metals (PGMs). They share chemical properties, but palladium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense.
This grayish-white precious metal is prized for its scarcity, malleability, heat resistance, and ability to absorb a significant amount of hydrogen at room temperature.
Applications: Catalytic converters use more than half of the palladium and its congener platinum supply.
Additionally, palladium is used in jewellery, electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical processes, and groundwater treatment. In fuel cells, hydrogen and oxygen react to create electricity, heat, and water. Palladium is a crucial component of these devices.
Largest producers: Russia, South Africa, the United States, Canada, and other various countries.
8. Rhenium
Rhenium is an atomic number 75 chemical element with the symbol Re. It is a heavy, third-row transition metal in group 7 of the periodic table that is silvery-gray in colour. Rhenium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth’s crust, with an estimated average concentration of 1 part per billion (ppb).
With a melting point of 5869 K, rhenium has the third-highest melting point and boiling point of any stable element. Rhenium is primarily obtained as a byproduct of molybdenum and copper ore extraction and refinement.
Applications: Rhenium superalloys based on nickel are used in jet engine combustion chambers, turbine blades, and exhaust nozzles.
Largest producers: Chile, Kazakhstan, and the United States.
Rhenium is an excellent hydrogenation and isomerization catalyst, and is used in the catalytic reforming of naphtha, for example.
9. Silver
The chemical element of silver has the atomic number 47 and the symbol Ag. It is a transition metal that is soft, white, and lustrous and has the highest electrical, thermal, and reflectivity of any metal. In addition to being found in alloys with other metals and in minerals like argentite and chlorargyrite, the metal is also present in the Earth’s crust in its pure, free elemental form. The majority of silver is created as a byproduct of the refining of copper, gold, lead, and zinc.
Along with best electrical and thermal conductivity, it also has the lowest contact resistance of all the metals.
Applications: Used as a medium of exchange and investment (coins and bullion). As a colourant in stained glass; in solar panels, water filtration, jewellery, ornaments, high-end tableware, electrical contacts, and conductors; in specialised mirrors and window coatings; in catalysing chemical reactions; and also in specialty confectionery. Its compounds are also used in X-ray and photographic film.
Largest producers: Peru, China, Mexico, and also Chile.
10. Indium
Indium is a chemical element with the atomic number 49 and the symbol In. It is the most malleable non-alkali metal. Indium is a silvery-white metal with the appearance of tin. It is a post-transition metal that accounts for 0.21 percent of the Earth’s crust. Indium has a higher melting point than sodium and gallium, but a lower melting point than lithium and tin. Indium is chemically similar to gallium and thallium, and its properties are largely intermediate between the two.
Ferdinand Reich and Hieronymous Theodor Richter used spectroscopic methods to discover indium in 1863. It got its name from the indigo blue line in its spectrum.
A rare metal derived from zinc ore, as well as lead, iron, and copper ores.
Applications: It was used as a bearing coating in aircraft engines during WWII, but it can also be used to make corrosive-resistant mirrors, semiconductors, alloys, and electrical conductivity in flat-panel devices.
Largest producers: China, South Korea, and Japan.
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