Chemical element palladium: metal properties, extraction and use. Palladium properties, production and application Palladium where it is used

Palladium– a chemical element, a silver-white precious metal that is a commodity. Indicated by the symbol Pd. The name is believed to come from the asteroid Pallas, discovered shortly before the chemical element. In turn, the asteroid is named after Pallas Athena, the ancient Greek goddess.

Illustration: Monex Precious Metals

Palladium was first isolated from platinum ore by the English chemist William Wollaston in 1803.

Applicable in the following industries:

Automotive industry. There is a trend towards the use of palladium, which is cheaper than platinum, in autocatalysts. The total demand of automakers for palladium exceeds 100 tons per year;

Chemical industry. Palladium is used here as a catalyst (up to 10 tons are spent for these purposes). In the oil and gas industry it is used in oil cracking. Palladium is a unique substance with which hydrogen is purified;

Electrical engineering and electronics: about 30 tons per year are spent on coatings in electrolytic capacitors and other purposes;

Medicine. Dentistry traditionally uses palladium alloys at a rate of approximately 26 tons per year. Pacemakers, surgical instruments, etc. are made from palladium.

In addition, palladium is used in the jewelry industry: it is part of the so-called white gold (an alloy of gold and palladium). Before the financial crisis, in 2005, the best year for the jewelry industry, the volume of palladium used reached 37 tons per year. However, subsequently the demand decreased and does not exceed 20 tons. The main buyers of palladium jewelry are Southeast Asian countries: Japan and China.

Palladium belongs to the platinum group of elements and is usually mined in the same place as platinum, nickel and copper. Russia ranks first in global palladium production: it accounts for up to 44% of the total volume. South Africa is in second place, Canada is in third, and the USA is in fourth place. The world's largest deposits are located in Taimyr and the Kola Peninsula.

Palladium coins

Illustration: Bank of Russia.

Approximately 225 thousand tons of palladium are produced annually, and demand is approximately 265 thousand tons. Thus, there is a shortage of this metal in the world. At the same time, the need for it is steadily growing. The growth potential is enhanced by the industry switching to palladium instead of platinum where possible. This is explained by the fact that palladium is several times cheaper.

This market situation makes it interesting as an investment object. Palladium is a commodity: it is traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Futures contracts exist for palladium. Prices are indicated in troy ounces. In the fall of 2011, palladium costs between 550-650 US dollars per ounce.

It should be taken into account that its prices are in direct correlation with the number of cars produced.

In Russia, investing in precious metals, including palladium, is offered to its clients by a number of banks - Sberbank, NOMOS-Bank, SMP Bank, etc. Moreover, it is possible to carry out transactions not only with physical bullion, but also using impersonal metal accounts To carry out such operations for their clients, according to Russian law, banks require a special license.

Much less common than platinum and even more so gold or silver, but still palladium is also used to make commemorative coins. For example, the State Bank of the USSR in 1989-1990 issued a series of coins “500th anniversary of the united Russian state”, which included “Ivan III”, “Peter the Great” and other coins in denominations of 25 rubles made of 999 fine palladium.

Banking analysts write about the insufficient satisfaction of demand for palladium - but the valuable metal is needed by industry, medicine, and jewelry.

Meanwhile, according to scientists, almost a palladium shower falls on the surface of our planet every year. Well, maybe not a downpour, but a faithful seven kilograms arrive from space every year!

Where does this wealth come from?

We are the children of the stars...

Metal ejected into interstellar space sooner or later becomes part of a gas and dust cloud, from the mass of which stars and planets condense. Colliding and collapsing, celestial bodies are crushed - these are the fragments that the Earth collects in its journey through the orbits of the galaxy. The indicated seven kilograms of palladium are contained in two thousand tons of meteorites that fall on our planet per year...

A considerable amount of palladium is concentrated in burnt-out nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants. For obvious reasons, it is impossible to use metal from uranium-plutonium slag in any way. So right away it’s impossible, but after 10-15 million years (quite a bit by the standards of the Universe) it’s possible!

Two centuries since the discovery of palladium

William Wollaston, at that time already a full member of the Royal Society of London for the Knowledge of Nature, in the last years of the 18th century started a profitable business in the production of platinum utensils. Experimenting with ore residue, Wollaston isolates new metals, one of which the scientist names “palladium”, and the second “rhodium”.

The name palladium is quite random. In the early 1800s, the Greek goddess Pallas Athena became a household name when a recently discovered asteroid was named after her. In 1803, two years after the significant event, Wollaston gives the “new silver” the fashionable name of a wise warrior.

Richard the Unbeliever

The ambitious Irish chemist Richard Chenevix, who had just received the highest award from the Royal Society, decided to turn his success into triumph, and publicly promised to bring the fraudster to clean water. According to Chenevix, the unknown charlatan simply used the little-known Musin-Pushkin method, which made it possible to fuse mercury with platinum.

Having bought the ingot that was being sold, Chenevix hastily conducted research, and soon reported at a meeting of the academic council that he was right. All that remains is to expose the falsifier!

And then an advertisement appears in the newspaper: someone promises to pay 20 pounds to anyone who can fuse platinum with mercury so that they get “new silver”...

With rage turning into frenzy, Chenevix begins experiments. Other London chemists are also working with him at the same time. Needless to say, none of them manages to synthesize palladium or isolate platinum and mercury from the ingot purchased by Chenevix.

A year after the start of the epic, Wollaston gives a detailed account of the discovery. Soon he is elected president of the Royal Society. Richard Chenevix has to leave his chemistry classes...

Mining and use of palladium

Deposits of palladium ores, as a rule, coincide with deposits of other non-ferrous metals, including nickel, mercury, and copper. According to modern estimates, the most promising palladium reserves are concentrated in Norilsk.

Hot palladium is easily permeable to hydrogen. A millimeter-thick metal plate installed as a membrane removes hydrogen from complex gas compositions and solutions that do not otherwise release hydrogen.

Palladium alloys do not oxidize even under an electric arc, which opened the way for them to the electrical industry. Titanium with a small addition of palladium exhibits increased resistance to various chemical loads. Medicine cannot do without palladium: the metal is used in dentistry, cardiology, and pharmaceuticals.

Palladium in jewelry

Wedding rings made from an alloy with a high palladium content (palladium hallmarks - 500, 850, ligature - silver) are visually indistinguishable from rhodium-plated gold rings. At the same time, the owner of the jewelry does not need to periodically renew the rhodium plating. And palladium is somewhat inferior in price to gold.

The addition of palladium to platinum gives the product greater expressiveness and increases the technological properties of the material.

Palladium

Palladium(lat. Palladium; named after the discovery of the minor planet Pallas) - This chemical element of group VIII of the periodic system of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, designated by the symbol Pd, atomic number 46, atomic mass 106.4.

Palladium is simple body, metal, found in platinum ores, similar in properties to Platinum; melting point is about 1500, oxidizes when heated in oxygen, is malleable and malleable, does not change at ordinary temperatures in air.

Salts of Silver, Gold, Palladium

Nitrogen, silver sulfate and other salts of precious metals from the manufacturer

origin of namepalladium

Named after the asteroid Pallas, discovered by the German astronomer Olberts in 1802, that is, shortly before the discovery of palladium. In turn, the asteroid is named after Pallas (Pallas Athena or her friend Pallas) from ancient Greek mythology. Palladium is a legendary wooden image of Pallas Athena that fell from the sky. It was one of the conditions for the indestructibility of Troy. Troy fell only after the goddess’s favorites, Odysseus and Diomedes, stole palladium during a night raid.

Storypalladium

Among the many honors awarded to outstanding scientists, there is one medal that is made of pure palladium. This is the Wollaston Medal, awarded annually by the Geological Union of London. What made William Hyde Wollaston so famous? Back at the end of the eighteenth century, he was an unknown London doctor. At that time, many doctors were also pharmacists, and therefore chemists. Wollaston turned out to be a good chemist, he invented new way manufacturing platinum utensils and established its production.

Having thus become rich, Wollaston left medical practice forever and devoted himself to chemistry and mineralogy. His main scientific task was to isolate Platinum from ores and its purification. During the study, Wollaston separated and analyzed its impurities. The result of this work was the discovery of palladium and rhodium. Wollaston had to extract palladium from raw Platinum, incidentally mined during the washing of gold-bearing sands in the distant Colombian Republic. At that time, grains of native Platinum were the only mineral known to people that contained palladium. About 30 minerals are now known to contain this element. To isolate the element, Wollaston dissolved the ore in aqua regia, neutralized the acid with a solution of NaOH, then precipitated Platinum from the solution by the action of ammonium chloride NH4Cl (ammonium chloroplatinate precipitates). Then mercuric cyanide was added to the solution, which formed palladium cyanide. Pure palladium was isolated from cyanide by heating.

Spreadingpalladium

Like all metals platinum group, palladium is rare. Although what to compare with! It is estimated that in the earth’s crust it is 1·10–6%, i.e. about twice as much as the yellow metal. The largest placer deposits of platinum metals, and, consequently, palladium, are located in our country (Ural), in Republic of Colombia, Alaska and Australia. Small traces of palladium are often found in gold sands.

But the main supplier of this metal was the deposits of nickel and cuprum sulfide ores. And, naturally, processing such ores as a by-product goods precious palladium is extracted. Extensive deposits of such ores are found in the Transvaal (Africa) and the Country of the Maple Leaf.

The richest deposits of copper-nickel ores in the Arctic (Norilsk, Talnakh) explored in recent decades have opened up great opportunities for further increasing the production of platinum metals and primarily palladium. After all, its content in such ores is three times greater than Platinum itself, not to mention its other satellites.

Of the six platinum metals, besides Platinum itself, only palladium is found in the native state. In appearance it is quite difficult to distinguish it from native Platinum, but it is much lighter and softer than it. Chemical analysis shows that native palladium usually contains impurities: first of all, Platinum itself, and sometimes also iridium, silver and gold. But native palladium is extremely rare.

Minerals containing element No. 46 are its compounds with lead, tin (intermetallic compounds), arsenic, sulfur, bismuth, tellurium. About a third of these minerals have not yet been sufficiently studied and do not even have names. This is explained by the fact that minerals of all platinum metals form microinclusions in ores and are difficult to access for research. An excellent device, an X-ray microanalyzer, helped decipher the composition of some of these microinclusions. It can be used to determine the chemical composition of samples weighing only 10–14 g!

One of the interesting minerals of element No. 46 is allopalladium, the nature of which is still being studied. This silver-white mineral with a metallic sheen is very rare. Spectral analysis revealed that it contains mercury, platinum, ruthenium, copper. But it has not yet been possible to definitively decipher the composition of this mineral.

Palladium platinum was discovered in the ores of Norilsk. Its composition, identified using a microanalyzer, contains 40% palladium.

Back in 1925, the mineral potarite was found in the diamond deposits of British Guinea. Its composition PdHg was determined by conventional chemical analysis: 34.8% Pd and 65.2% Hg. However, the existence of other palladium compounds with mercury is also possible, for example Pd2Hg3.

In Brazil, in the state of Minas Gerais, a very rare and still insufficiently studied variety of native yellow metal– palladium gold (or porpecite). It contains only 8...11% palladium. In appearance, this mineral is difficult to distinguish from pure yellow metal.

These are some of the palladium minerals. By the way, palladium was also found in meteorites: 1.2...7.7 g/t of the substance in iron meteorites and up to 3.5 g/t in stone ones. And it was discovered on the Sun simultaneously with helium back in 1868.

Receiptpalladium

Palladium is mainly obtained from the processing of nickel and sulfide ores. cupruma.

Properties atom palladium

Atomic mass 106,4

• Molar mass 106.42 a. e.m. (g/mol)
• Radius atom 137 pm
• Ionization energy (first electron) 803.5(8.33) kJ/mol (eV)
• Electronic configuration 4d10

Chemical propertiespalladium

• Covalent radius 128 pm
• Ion radius (+4e) 65 (+2e) 80 pm
• Electronegativity (Pauling) 2.20
• Electrode potential 0
• Oxidation states 0, +1, +2 (most common), +3, +4 (common), +5, +6 (very rare)

Thermodynamic properties of a simple substancepalladium

• Density 12.02 g/cm³
• Molar heat capacity 25.8 J/(K mol)
• Thermal conductivity 71.8 W/(m K)
• Melting point 1827 K
• Heat of fusion 17.24 kJ/mol
• Boiling point 2940 K
• Heat of evaporation 372.4 kJ/mol
• Molar volume 8.9 cm³/mol

Crystal lattice of a simple substancepalladium

• Lattice structure: face-centered cubic
• Lattice parameters 3.890 Å
• c/a ratio -
• Debye temperature 274 K

Physical propertiespalladium

Silver-white palladium looks more like silver than Platinum. Actually, all these three metals look approximately the same, but density(12.02 g/cm3) palladium is closer to silver(10.49) than to Platinum (21.40). Palladium is the lightest of the platinum elements. And the most fusible - melting point 1552°C. Liquid palladium boils only at 3980°C. It softens before melting. Heated palladium is easily forged and welded. And even at room temperature it is soft and easy to process.

Palladium is beautiful in its own way, polishes perfectly, does not tarnish and is not susceptible to corrosion. In a palladium frame they stand out impressively gems. Watches in cases made of white yellow metal are popular abroad. Here, “white gold” must be understood in the literal sense of the word: it is gold bleached by the addition of palladium. Palladium is capable of “whitening” almost six times the amount of yellow metal.

For technology, the variability of the basic mechanical characteristics of palladium is important. For example, its hardness increases sharply - 2...2.5 times - after cold processing. Additions of related metals also greatly influence its properties. Typically its tensile strength is 18.5 kg/mm2. But if you add 4% ruthenium and 1% rhodium to palladium, the tensile strength will double. By the way, this alloy is used in jewelry.

Palladium is plastic; microadditives of nickel, cobalt, rhodium or ruthenium improve the mechanical properties of Pd and increase hardness.

Chemical propertiespalladium

Palladium does not react with diluted water acids, alkalis, ammonia hydrate. Reacts with concentrated sulfur and nitrogen acids, “regia vodka”, halogens, sulfur. Oxidizes when fused with potassium hydrogen sulfate: Pd + 2HCl(k)+ 2Cl2= H2; Pd + 2KCl + Cl2 = K2; Pd + 4HNO3(k)= Pd(NO3)2↓+ 2NO2 + 2H2O

An interesting property of palladium is its ability to reversibly absorb hydrogen: at a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius and atmospheric pressure, 1 volume of metal absorbs 900 volumes hydrogen. Hydrogen is found in the metal in atomic form and has high chemical activity.

Palladium is the only metal with an extremely filled outer electron shell: there are 18 electrons in the outer orbit of a palladium atom. With such a structure, an atom simply cannot help but have the highest chemical resistance. At temperatures of 500°C and above, it can react with fluorine and other strong oxidizing agents. In compounds, palladium is di-, tri- and tetravalent, divalent most often. And also, like all platinum metals, it forms many complex compounds. Complexes of divalent palladium with amines, oximes, thiourea and many other organic compounds have a flat, square structure and this differs from complex compounds of other platinum metals. They almost always form bulky octahedral complexes. Many thousands of palladium complex compounds are now known. Some of them bring practical benefits, at least in the production of palladium itself.

Applicationpalladium

Determining the presence of carbon monoxide in the air

You can determine the presence of CO in the air using a piece of paper moistened with a solution of palladium chloride. This is a fail-safe alarm; As soon as the CO content in the air exceeds the permissible level (0.02 mg/l), the paper turns black - PdCl2 is reduced to palladium black.

Catalystspalladium

Palladium is often used as a catalyst. In the presence of palladium, many practically important reactions begin and proceed at low temperatures. Palladium accelerates the hydrogenation processes of many organic products even better than a proven catalyst such as nickel. Element No. 46 is used in the production of acetylene, many pharmaceuticals and other organic synthesis products. In apparatuses of the chemical industry, palladium is usually used in the form of “black” (in a finely dispersed state, palladium, like all platinum metals, acquires a black color) or in the form of PdO oxide (in hydrogenation apparatuses). A catalyst with palladium black is prepared as follows: a porous material (charcoal, pumice, chalk) is impregnated with an alkaline solution of palladium chloride. Then, when heated in a stream of hydrogen, the chloride is reduced to metal, and pure palladium is deposited on the carrier in the form of fine black.

Hydrogen purification using palladium

Astrophysicists have calculated that there is more hydrogen in our Galaxy than other elements combined. And on Earth there is less than 1% hydrogen. It is difficult to list all the applications of this element; Suffice it to remember that hydrogen is an important rocket fuel. But all terrestrial hydrogen is bound; The lightest of the gases has to be obtained at factories: either from methane using conversion, or from water by electrolysis. In both cases, absolutely pure hydrogen cannot be obtained. For hydrogen purification, palladium (or its alloy with silver) is still indispensable. The design of the device is not that complicated. The unique ability of hydrogen to diffuse at enormous speed through a thin (up to 0.1 mm) palladium plate is used. Under a little pressure gas passed through palladium tubes closed on one side and heated to 600°C. Hydrogen quickly passes through palladium, and impurities (water vapor, hydrocarbons, O2, N2) are retained in the tubes.

Application of palladium in electroplating

Palladium chloride is used as an activating agent in the galvanic metallization of dielectrics - in particular, the deposition of cuprum onto the surface of laminates in the production of printed circuit boards in electronics.

Electrical contacts with palladium

Palladium and palladium alloys are used in electronics - for coatings that are resistant to sulfides (an advantage over silver). In particular, palladium is constantly consumed for the production of high-precision precision resistance rheochords (military and aerospace equipment), including in the form of an alloy with tungsten (for example, PdV-20M). The use in these units is due to the high wear resistance of palladium, which is ideal for its use in contact groups. By the way, rheochords made of palladium wire were widely used in civil equipment, and palladium in its pure form was used in the contacts of stepper switches of control and recording machines.

Palladium is also included in ceramic capacitors with high temperature stability of the capacitance.

Jewelry item of trade from palladium

In alloys used in jewelry (for example, to produce a gold-palladium alloy - the so-called “white gold”), in general, even in a small amount (1%) palladium can sharply change the color of the yellow metal to silver-white. The main alloys of palladium and silver in jewelry are 500 and 850 (the most technologically advanced and attractive).

Making medicines using palladium

In some countries a small amount of palladium is used to obtain cytostatic drugs - in the form of complex compounds, similar to cis-Platinum.

Other uses of palladium metal.

Palladium is used in various precision mechanical tools, for the manufacture of special chemical glassware that is resistant to corrosion parts of high-precision measuring instruments. Medical instruments, parts of pacemakers, dentures, and some medicines are made from palladium and its alloys. A certain amount of palladium is consumed for the manufacture of chemical equipment for the production of hydrofluoric acid (vessels, distillation cubes, pump parts, retorts). Palladium coatings are used on electrical contacts to prevent sparking. The Russian Central Bank mints commemorative coins from palladium in very limited quantities.

Other features of palladium

According to some researchers, it is used in the components of a mechanism for reproducing cold thermonuclear fusion. Palladium is a precious metal and has recently been actively traded on the stock exchange (in Russian Federation on the RTS) and over-the-counter markets. In some countries, including in Russian Federation, legislation allows individuals and legal entities. persons to open metal accounts in palladium in banks.

Palladium production and consumption indicators

Supplies of palladium in the world in 2007 amounted to 267 tons (including Russia - 141 tons, South Africa - 86 tons, USA and Maple Leaf Country- 31 tons, other countries - 9 tons). Palladium consumption in 2007 was 107 tons in the automotive industry, 40 tons in the electronics industry, and 12 tons in the chemical industry.

Palladium is a profitable object investment

On market Trade and industrial activities in metals have seen a rapid increase in demand for palladium. Perhaps soon the existing offer on market there will no longer be enough to meet the growing demand for the metal, causing the price of palladium to rise even higher. Thus, palladium becomes the best object for investment among precious metals.

According to the CPM Group, an organization specializing in consulting on precious metals, trading activities palladium in 2007 will increase by 6.5%. The shift in demand from Platinum and Rhodium to Palladium is expected to continue. In New York, the number of palladium futures transactions has increased 6-fold since the beginning of the year. Price metal prices have increased by 7.9% since the beginning of the year. According to the results of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on May 23, the June contract for the supply of palladium decreased by $1 to $377.55 per ounce, but since the beginning of the week the price has risen by $12.3, or 3.4%. By the end of the year, palladium could rise in price by 37% to $500 per ounce, says Gerry Schubert, head of the department for sale Belgian metals jar Fortis. As a result of limited offers palladium by the Russian Federation – the largest supplier of this metal to the world market, futures contracts to palladium become a favorite tool of hedge funds. Currently, the volume of long positions in palladium held by hedge funds exceeds the volume of long positions in Platinum. price which has increased by 16% since the end of last year. Palladium is expected to see just as much growth in the near future.

Exchange-traded funds are beginning to play a special role in the precious metals market. Their shares are secured precious metals, are listed on an exchange and traded in the same way as corporate shares. April 24 organization ETF negotiable paper Ltd. brought five new exchange-traded funds to market and, according to a representative companies Nik Bienkowski, for the first three weeks bidding the shares attracted investment equivalent to 18,000 ounces of palladium and 12,000 ounces of platinum. Head of ETF negotiable paper Graham Tuckwell believes that the new funds will increase demand for precious metals and attract between $250 million and $500 million. Indeed, the creation of new exchange-traded funds, which themselves become active buyers of Platinum, remains one of the main factors for the significant increase in the price of Platinum. Since both the properties and applications of palladium and Platinum largely coincide, the markets for these metals are interconnected, which means we can expect a similar reaction of the palladium market to the activities of the funds. Such assumptions are confirmed by Stuart Flerlage from the New York organization NuWave Investment: “Platinum prices are rising higher and higher... Perhaps we will see the same picture with the value of palladium.” The creation of exchange-traded funds linked to the price of Platinum could further spur demand for the metal, causing more manufacturers and jewelers to turn their attention to the still more affordable palladium, said Michael Gambardella, an analyst at JP Morgan and Co & Co.

Among precious metals, there are four elements that are subject to hallmarking. They are the most expensive of all noble minerals.

These are silver, gold, platinum and palladium. Platinum and palladium are minerals belonging to the platinum group elements. It is difficult to distinguish them by external signs. Therefore, it is worth understanding what palladium is and how to distinguish it from other metals?

In 1801, the German scientist Olbers discovered a planet called Pallas. This discovery became a sensation and made a huge impression on the famous chemist Wollaston. Therefore, when two years later he was able to obtain a new element from raw platinum, he gave it the name palladium.

Palladium is the lightest element of the platinum group. Its density is about 12 g per 1 cubic centimeter. In its pure form, the metal has a silvery-white color, there are no other shades.

Many properties of the metal are similar to those of other noble elements. For example, the mineral is quite plastic, viscous and has good malleability. Just like gold, it can easily be stretched into the thinnest sheet or given any shape, soldered, polished or engraved.

But if you compare the element with platinum, then in some qualities it is inferior to it. For example, it reacts with sulfuric and hydrochloric acids. And nitric acid can dissolve it completely. In relation to other elements, palladium is an inert metal.

Receipt

The element is present in white gold. And an important task is to separate it from bismuth and arsenic, which, like palladium, dissolve in nitric acid.

To do this, perform the following manipulations:

1. Nitrate of elements such as silver, palladium and bismuth must be evaporated to a syrupy state. In the case of palladium, this will help remove residues of various acids from them.
2. Next, the mixture is diluted with purified water.
3. Concentrated hydrochloric acid is added. A white sedimentary deposit, similar to cottage cheese, is formed - silver chloride. It must be separated so that the solution becomes clear.
4. After this, the composition is evaporated. This removes hydrochloric acid.
5. Ammonia is added to the mixture. The composition should turn blue or green. Flakes - bismuth chloride - will begin to fall out. It does not dissolve in ammonia.
6. The mixture is filtered. Hydrochloric acid is added to it. As a result, palladium sulfide is formed.
7. After the reaction completes, a precipitate forms yellow color in a transparent solution with a yellowish tint.
8. Palladium sulfide must be thoroughly washed and removed from water.
9. Palladium sulfide can then be reduced to its metal state. To do this, it must be melted down again.
10. To give the metal a marketable appearance, palladium sulfide is best reduced to black with hydrogen sulfide. Then it needs to be fused again. After this, the palladium sulfide is granulated.

Try

Since palladium is a soft metal, it is not used in its pure form. Such an alloy will not be able to withstand even slight external influences.

Jewelers use minerals with various impurities for their work. The sample size of the alloy also depends on their number and name.

The main samples of palladium are presented in the table.

All metals impart hardness to the element. And if you add gold or silver, you can increase the wear resistance of the alloy.

Extraction and use

Palladium is a precious metal alloy that is found in more than 30 minerals. It is also found in the form of nuggets. A large amount of the element is included in gold and silver alloys.

Palladium is considered a rare precious metal. It is much rarer than gold. Among the main mining sites are:

1. Norilsk platinum. It is an important deposit of the element. Here, more than half of all minerals are palladium. The rest is mercury, copper, nickel.
2. A large amount of the metal is mined in Brazil. Nuggets with an element content of more than 10% are found here.

The uses of palladium metal are varied. There is practically no area where it is not used:

A mixture of palladium and platinum is often used. It not only improves the technological characteristics of the metal, but also gives the decoration greater expressiveness.

Price

The cost of 1 g of palladium on the stock exchange is almost 1,500 rubles.

If he is talking about scrap, then it is worth knowing that a product of high standard and with an artistic design is more expensive. For jewelry of 500 standard, buyers will offer no more than 550 rubles. But if the quantity of the item being delivered is 500 g or more, the cost will increase.