Top 10 Most Valuable Precious Metals

10.Indium
Indium is a white metal produced from zinc-ore dispensation, lead, iron as well as copper ores. During World War II, it was used as a coating for bearings in aircraft engines, but it can also be used to create corrosive-resistant mirrors, semiconductors, alloys and electrical conductivity in flat-panel devices.

9. Silver
Photo: Wikimedia
Pretty low in the list is silver and it’s pretty cheap, averaging around $16.50 per ounce recently. This element has great electrical and thermal conductivity, as well as the lowest contact resistance of all the metals. It’s used in jewelry, coinage, photography, circuitry, dentistry and batteries. It can also be used to stop the spread of bacteria in cell phone covers, control odor in shoes and clothing and prevent mold in treated wood.

8. Rhenium
Photo: Wikimedia
One of the densest metals, with the third highest melting point. Rhenium is a by-product of molybdenum, which essentially is a by-product of copper mining. Rhenium is used in high-temperature superalloys that are employed to make jet engine parts, by means of 70% of the universal rhenium productions.

7. Palladium 
Photo: Jurii
This grayish-white, precious metal is valued because of its rarity, malleability, stability under hot conditions and ability to absorb a considerable amount of hydrogen at room temperature. Automobile makers rely on it for their catalytic converters to reduce emissions and is used heavily in electronic applications. The second-largest usage of palladium in electronics is in the industry of multilayer ceramic capacitors. In addition, it is used in creating “white gold”.

6. Osmium
Photo: Alchemist-hp
This bluish-silver metal is one of the densest elements on Earth. This very hard, brittle metal has an extremely high melting point and is used to harden platinum alloys for electrical contacts, filaments and other uses.

5. Iridium
Photo: Dschwen
It’s the most extreme member of the platinum group. This whitish metal has a super high melting point, is one of the densest elements around and stands as the most corrosion-resistant metal. Iridium is processed from platinum ore and as a by-product of nickel mining. Found in everyday items like pens, watches and compasses, it also has more technical applications in medicine, electronics and automobiles.

4. Ruthenium 
Photo: Alchemist-hp 
This member of the platinum metals retains many of the group’s characteristics, including hardness, rarity and an ability to withstand outside elements. Can be added as an alloy to platinum and palladium in order to increase hardness and better resistance. Ruthenium has become quite popular in the electronics field, as a way to effectively plate electric contacts.

3. Platinum
Photo: Jurii
Platinum is considered a noble metal and has made a name for itself through its malleability, density and non-corrosive properties. This metal is also similar to palladium in its ability to withstand great quantities of hydrogen. It’s used in jewelry as well as dentistry, weaponry and aeronautics. It is currently priced at about $1275 per ounce.

2. Rhodium
Photo: Alchemist-hp
Although currently priced at around $1150 per ounce, rhodium has seen times where it has been double the price of gold and platinum. A member of the platinum group of metals itself, rhodium is most commonly found mixed with other platinum group metals. This makes it difficult to extract, which can only increase its value.
The silvery white metal has a variety of applications. It is used in the process of “rhodium flashing” white gold and platinum in order to give jewelry made from those metals a whiter, more reflective surface. It is also particularly suited to the production of catalytic converters. In 1979, Paul McCartney was presented with a rhodium-plated disc in honor of his status as the Guinness Book of World Records’s all-time bestselling songwriter and recording artist.

1. Gold
Photo: Alchemist-hp
Because of its desirability, durability and malleability, gold remains one of the most popular metals and investment options. Gold is usually separated from surrounding rocks and minerals by mining and panning, upon which the metal is extracted with a combination of chemical reactions and smelting. A gold set was often carried out as a financial policy between nations, but gold coins stopped to be minted as a currency in the 1930s.
It has been used for coinage and jewelry since long before the commencement of recorded history. Its conductivity makes it a great component of electronics, and its reflective surface helps create better radiation shields and office windows. It has many other industrial uses.
Gold’s desirable properties, broad scope of functioning uses, history within finance, and popularity in jewelry all contribute to its position as the most valuable precious metal to mankind.


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