Rhodium Is World's Most Valuable Metal At $10,300 An Ounce

Gold's versatility, conductivity, durability, and aesthetic appeal firmly establish it among the top five most valuable metals.

Rhodium claims the title of the world's most expensive and rarest metal and sells at a price of $10,300 per ounce.

The current price of gold exceeds $1,850 per ounce—an impressive figure, but one that pales in comparison to rhodium's value, as reported by the Jerusalem Post.

Rhodium claims the title of the world's most expensive and rarest metal and sells at a price of $10,300 per ounce. It belongs to the transition metal series and is chemically unreactive with oxygen, classifying it as a noble metal.

Rhodium is a perfect catalyst, resistant to both corrosion and oxidation.

With its hardness and a melting point of 1,964 degrees Celsius (3,567 degrees Fahrenheit), rhodium shares its position among the platinum group metals, including palladium, osmium, platinum, iridium, and ruthenium.

Its ability to withstand temperatures up to 600 degrees Celsius (1,112 degrees Fahrenheit) and its insolubility in most acids make it invaluable for making automotive, aviation, and electrical components, high-temperature thermocouples, and resistance wires.

In the Earth's crust, rhodium occurs at a mere 0.000037 parts per million, while gold comes in at about 0.0013 parts per million, as noted by the British Royal Society of Chemistry.

Rhodium production is centered in South Africa and Russia, often as a byproduct of refining copper and nickel ores containing up to 0.1% of the metal. About 16 tons of rhodium are produced annually, with an estimated reserve of 3,000 tons.

The discovery of rhodium dates back to 1803, credited to William Hyde Wollaston, an English chemist. Wollaston extracted the element from a piece of platinum ore from South America.

This breakthrough followed closely after Wollaston's identification of another group of platinum metals, including palladium.

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