Iridium

  • Ir
  • Type: Metal, Platinum Group Metal
  • Colour: silvery white
  • Mohs Hardness: 6.5
  • Crystal System: Cubic
  • Transparency: opaque
  • Lustre: Metallic: This luster has the shine of polished metal, like gold, silver, or copper. It reflects light strongly and uniformly, creating a mirror-like appearance.
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General Information

Iridium is a very hard, brittle, silvery-white. It is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium). While Zambia doesn’t have dedicated platinum group metal (PGM) mines currently, there are indications of PGMs present in some existing copper and nickel deposits. The most common use of iridium is as a catalyst in chemical reactions, as an investment or as jewelry.
  • Density: 22.56 g/cm3
  • Melting Point: 2446
  • Boiling Point: 4130
  • Thermal Conductivity: 147 W/(mâ‹…K)
  • Electrical Resistivity: 47.1 nΩ⋅m (at 20 °C)
  • Magnetism: paramagnetic

Value

Iridium does fetch a high price due to it being a precious metal. It is used in investment and jewelry.

Application

Location

Processing

Extraction often occurs as a byproduct during copper or nickel processing, making their production dependent on the economics of those main metals.

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