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Platinum Elemental Platinum

Due to its rarity, platinum is more highly priced than gold or silver.

The History Says

The Spaniards named platinum as 'platina,' or 'little silver,' when they first encountered it in Colombia. They regarded platinum as an unwanted impurity in the silver they were mining, and often discarded it.

The Present Scenario


WELL FORMED platinum crystals are very rare. The common habit of it is nuggets and grains. In nature, pure platinum is unknown. Usually it is alloyed with other metals, like iron, copper, gold, nickel, iridium, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and osmium.

These metals presence with platinum tends to lower the density of platinum. Iron presence leads to a slight magnetism in platinum nuggets and is common enough property to be considered diagnostic.

Platinum is resistance to chemical attack. It has excellent high-temperature characteristics, and stable electrical properties. These properties of platinum is exploited for industrial applications. It does not oxidise in air at any temperature and is also insoluble in hydrochloric and nitric acid, but in aqua regia, it does dissolves forming chloroplatinic acid.

Element platinum is very scarce in most crustal rocks. It is barely seen as even a trace element in chemical analysis of these rocks. It seems that platinum is much more concentrated in the mantle and it can be enriched through magmatic segregation.

The origin of platinum in the earth's crust is from ultra-mafic igneous rocks and is therefore, can be associated with minerals which are common to these rocks, like chromite and olivine. However, platinum's most common source is from placer deposits.

Platinum is more expensive than gold, approximately twice. Its price changes along with its availability. In the 18th century, the rarity of platinum made King Louis XV of France declare it to be the only metal fit for a king.

Physical Characteristics of Platinum

Color White-gray to silver-gray.
Luster Metallic
Transparency Opaque
Cleavage None
Fracture Jagged
Hardness 4-4.5
Specific gravity 14 - 19+, pure platinum is 21.5.
Streak Steel-gray
Tenacity Ductile and Malleable

Uses of Platinum

Note:- Platinum is only used where another element cannot replace its use because it is very rare.

Associated Minerals of Platinum

Occurrences of Platinum

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