You will be quite surprised if you learn which one is the most precious metal. It is not gold or platinum. The most expensive metal in the world is Rhodium. Rhodium detectors are used in nuclear reactors to measure the neutron flux level. The price for one ounce of metal for the four most precious metals are as follows: Rhodium - $2,105 / Oz Platinum - $1,814 / Oz Gold - $1,350 / Oz Indium - $1,050 / Oz
Wow, Rhodium, I was pretty sure it was platinum. But it makes sense, everything nuclear related is always huge when it comes to price.
See, the prices are mostly dependent on the supply to demand ratio. Platinum is extremely rare, but not as rare as Rhodium. Rhodium occurs only in a very few places, scattered across South Africa, Russia and Canada. Even in these deposits it occurs as a complex mineral in association with Platinum, Silver, Palladium and Gold. The extraction is also very difficult. Only about 25 tonnes of Rhodium metal is mined annually (compare that to 2,500 t for gold).
Wow, those are interesting facts you've brought up. How much is Palladium worth then, and what kind of materials is that metal generally used for?
Palladium is slightly cheaper than Gold. Right now, the spot prices hover around $780 to $785 per Oz. If you want to buy Palladium bullion coins, then you can buy them through KITCO. Palladium is very similar to Platinum in appearance. Most of the Palladium mined every year is used for the production of Catalytic converters. A small part is used for various uses in electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical applications and groundwater treatment.
