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While gold was worth $1,800 per troy ounce, in 2021, Rhodium It reached $28,775 that year. This is indicated by Statista, the statistical portal for market data. However, this is a notable peak that has not been repeated again. Prices fluctuate, but this unknown and precious metal maintains its tendency to cost more than twice as much as gold.

The reason rhodium is so valuable is because it is difficult to find, but also because of its properties that make it a sought-after element for the jewelry industry and also for creating environmentally friendly technologies.

What is rhodium?

Rhodium is a shiny, corrosion-resistant metal, and one of the rarest and most important metals in the world. The properties it possesses make it highly sought after for various industrial and commercial applications. It is used in the automotive industry, but also in fine jewelry, where it enhances the brilliance of gemstones. But, also, it is very difficult to obtain.

The presence of rhodium in the Earth's crust rarely exceeds 0.001 grams per ton of rock, according to an article by mineral experts Jose Maria Gonzalez and Fernando Gervilla in The Conversation.

There are no rhodium mines

This metal is so difficult to obtain that there are no deposits of rhodium, rather it is a byproduct of mining other metals such as platinum and palladium. Likewise, there is no primary rhodium mine.

According to specialists, mineral deposits containing rhodium are linked to phenomena that caused the disintegration of large continental masses, which allowed the rise of magma located in very deep areas.

Where can you find rhodium?

The largest amount of rhodium is found in the bushveld igneous complex in South Africa. In this country, rhodium is mined, along with platinum and palladium, “from lumps of nickel and copper sulphides and chromium oxides found in basic and ultrabasic natural rocks,” according to The Conversation website.

Other places that also have deposits from which rhodium is extracted in smaller quantities are Zimbabwe, the United States, and Russia. Rhodium is also obtained as a byproduct of nickel mining in Canada.

For her part, though south america Not known for its large production of rhodium compared to other countries, rhodium is supposedly mined in places where platinum is mined, such as deposits in Colombia and Brazil.

It is worth noting that in mid-2022, the Venezuelan Ministry of Mining Development published a press release indicating the presence of rhodium deposits in the state of Bolivar within Venezuelan territory. However, this metal is not yet part of the country's central bank reserves.

South America in the history of the discovery of rhodium

The discovery of rhodium dates back to 1803, when it was discovered by an English chemist William Hyde Wollastonin South America, according to PubChem, a chemical information platform of the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The story goes that Hyde extracted rhodium from a sample of platinum he obtained in South America. The expert removed the platinum and palladium and was left with a dark red powder that turned out to be rhodium and sodium chloride.

The chemist then treated the combined metals with hydrogen gas and was able to isolate rhodium for the first time. The name he gave it is derived from the Greek word rhodon, which means rose.

Technological innovation

The main use of rhodium is in the manufacture of transformers for vehicles, and they serve as catalysts to reduce harmful exhaust gas emissions from cars, according to what was reported by the specialized New Age Metals portal. Thanks to its high melting point, this metal is not affected by high temperatures.

Likewise, its resistance to corrosion and oxidation makes rhodium an ideal material for protective coatings in jewelry and in the chemical industry.

On the other hand, the high reflectivity property makes this material useful in the manufacture of mirrors and reflectors, as well as in the electronics industry for coating reflective surfaces.