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The most expensive #metals and where they are mined #Palladium SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, March 11th, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

The most expensive metals and where they are mined

  • Palladium is the most expensive of the four major precious metals – gold, silver and platinum being the others.
  • It is rarer than platinum, and is used in larger quantities for catalytic converters.
  • In the near-term, the demand for metals used in catalytic converters is expected to be steady, buoyed by growing automotive sales in Asia.

By Matthew Hall

Palladium

Rhodium’s little brother palladium also did well out of the Dieselgate scandal. After sales of diesel vehicles slumped and petrol alternatives came back into fashion, platinum – used primarily in catalytic converters for diesel vehicles – took a tumble, while petrol-friendly palladium rose.

Palladium is the most expensive of the four major precious metals – gold, silver and platinum being the others. It is rarer than platinum, and is used in larger quantities for catalytic converters. In the near-term, the demand for metals used in catalytic converters is expected to be steady, buoyed by growing automotive sales in Asia. However, the increased uptake of battery-electric vehicles – which do not use catalytic converters – could see palladium demand take a hit.

Russia00n mining company Nornickel is the top global palladium producer, pulling up 86 metric tons of the metal in 2019.

Rhodium

Relatively unknown to the layperson, rhodium is quietly one of the hottest trades right now, after a price surge of more than 30% this year. Rhodium previously peaked – and quickly crashed – in 2008 at more than $10,000 per troy ounce (ozt), but the metal is now trading above that 2008 high on the back of a swell in demand from the automotive industry.

Rhodium is used in catalytic converters, a part of vehicle exhaust systems that reduce toxic gas emissions and pollutants. According to S&P Global Platts, almost 80% of demand for rhodium and palladium comes from the global automotive industry. Fortunately for South Africa at least, around 80% of all rhodium is mined within its borders.

Part of the reason for the metal’s price leap is its rarity. Annual rhodium production sits at around 30 tonnes – to place that in context, gold miners annually dig up between 2,500 and 3,000 tonnes of the precious metal. Rhodium also benefitted from the Volkswagen emissions scandal, or Dieselgate, the 2015 emissions scandal that rocked the automotive industry. With major economies including China and India tightening emissions rules, platinum group metals (PGM) miners are anticipating good times ahead for rhodium.

Gold

Part durability, part tradition, gold is among the most versatile commodities. Primarily used in jewellery, but also having significant applications across electronics and aerospace due to its durability and conductivity, gold is, to put it plainly, everywhere.

Source: https://www.mining-technology.com/features/five-most-expensive-metals-and-where-they-are-mined/

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