subject: Precious Metals, Platinum And Palladium [print this page] If you are one of the people who wonder what makes a particular metal precious and another one "non-precious", you should not feel stupid. There are many people who ask themselves the same question. Perhaps, it looks complicated but the explanation is very simple actually: the price of a particular metal is determined by its rareness. Basically, the rarer a metal is the more precious and expensive it is likely to be. So, it is not surprising that metals such as iron or magnesium are very cheap since they could be found everywhere around but other precious metals, platinum and palladium are very hard-to-find!
The statements from above could immediately be "protected" by a simple example: the platinum. There is no doubt that it is one of the most expensive metals used for jewelry production but for NASA spaceship missions also. The research shows that platinum is no more than 0.0003% of the lithosphere. Why don't you try to compare it with other metals such as magnesium that are nearly 10% of the entire lithosphere of the Earth! It is a huge difference, isn't it?
It has already been slightly mentioned that platinum is used for jewelry production. Actually, 2009 was really successful since platinum engagement bands became a real hit at that time. Of course, there are still loved and chosen by many men but it is a fact that the "fad" is gradually fading.
There is no doubt that precious metals, platinum and palladium are loved by everyone. Of course, it is still normal that people have their own preferences and some of those metals are more popular than others. Let's take the palladium.
The truth itself is that many people do not know much about palladium. It was found out for the first time in the beginning of 19th century (1803) by William Wollaston but that's not so much important. What most of you probably care about is the fact that palladium is in top 5 of the rarest metals on the planet. So, it is not surprising that a pile of money is needed for owning just several grams of it!
Actually, there are only several regions where palladium could be found. These are: some northern states of US, northern Europe, and South Africa. Yes, there are no other places where this extremely precious metal has been found.
Of course, it could not be said that there are no other places where palladium could be found. Surely, there might be others but they have not been discovered so far. Anyway, most of the scientists share the opinion that the regions in Asia, Australia and South America are not "hospitable" for formation of palladium so that it is not likely palladium to be found there.
But what matters much more than the places where palladium can be found, is the fact that owning a piece of metal like that gives the person a really unique feeling. Just think about it- you own just a couple of grams of it (as a form of jewelry or anything else) but there are really few others who can say the same, perhaps around 0.0032% of the population!
