In 1741, Charles Wood, a British metallurgist, found various samples of Colombian platinum in Jamaica, which he sent to William Brownrigg for further investigation. Antonio de Ulloa, also credited with the discovery of platinum element, returned to Spain from the French Geodesic Mission in 1746 after having been there for eight years. His historical account of the expedition included a description of platinum element as being neither separable nor calcinable. Ulloa also anticipated the discovery of platinum mines. After publishing the report in 1748, Ulloa did not continue to investigate the new metal. In 1758, he was sent to superintend mercury mining operations in Huancavelica.

In 1750, after studying the platinum sent to him by Wood, Brownrigg presented a detailed account of the metal to the Royal Society, mentioning that he had seen no mention of it in any previous accounts of known minerals. Brownrigg also made note of platinum’s extremely high melting point and refractoriness toward borax. Other chemists across Europe soon began studying platinum, including Torbern Bergman, Jöns Jakob Berzelius, William Lewis, and Pierre Macquer. In 1752, Henrik Scheffer published a detailed scientific description of the metal, which he referred to as “white gold”, including an account of how he succeeded in fusing platinum element ore with the aid of arsenic. Scheffer described platinum as being less pliable than gold, but with similar resistance to corrosion.

From 1875 to 1960 the SI unit of length (the standard meter) was defined as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of ninety percent platinum and ten percent iridium, measured at 0 degrees Celsius.

In 2007 Gerhard Ertl won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determining the detailed molecular mechanisms of the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide over platinum element (catalytic converter).

South Africa

South Africa is famous for its mines and for some of the precious metals and stones that it exports, and platinum is not an exception to that trend in this case. In fact, platinum is actually found in higher quantities in South Africa than just about any other place on Earth, which just adds that much more to the mystique of what lies beneath the soil in South Africa.

Platinum occurs in a very rare formation in South Africa, in what’s known as a sulfide mineral cooperite. Platinum occurs there with palladium and nickel, and these platinum extractions make up the largest primary reserves of platinum in the world. No where else on earth is platinum known to exist in such quantities.

In 2005, South Africa held about an 80% share of the production of platinum, with Russia and Canada both trailing by a distant margin.

Russia

After South Africa, one of the largest sources of platinum is Russia, at copper-nickel deposits near Norilsk. Although in Russia, these quantities don’t occur in the same frequency as the source in South Africa, this is still considered one of the largest deposits in the world, as platinum often is found with these other metals.

Canada

Like Russia, Canada has a natural platinum source that comes with another large ore, in this case the nickel ore found in the Sudbury Basin. Even with this large ore of nickel, platinum only makes up a small part of the metal present, further helping illustrate the real rarity of platinum.

A quick look at where platinum exists gives a hint into its nature as one of our rarest metals. Looking at a map of all of the places platinum occurs in significant amounts, one can’t help but notice all of the places where platinum is actually not occurring, which is the vast majority of the map.

The most common use of platinum is as a catalyst in chemical reactions. It has been employed in this application since the very early 1800s, this was when platinum powder was used to catalyze the ignition of hydrogen. The most significant application of platinum is in automobiles as a catalytic converter, which allows the complete combustion of low concentrations of unburned hydrocarbon from the fumes into carbon dioxide and water vapor. The petroleum industry as a catalyst in a number of separate processes, catalytic reforming of straight run naphthas into higher-octane gasoline which becomes rich in aromatic compounds. Hydrogenation Catalyst for vegetable oils is know as Adams’s Catalyst PtO2. Platinum metal also strongly catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen gas.

platinum wire is used for electrodes, platinum pans are used in thermogravimetric analysis In laboratory. Platinum is used as an alloying agent for various metal products, including fine wires, noncorrosive laboratory containers, medical instruments, dental prostheses, electrical contacts, and thermocouples. Permanent Magnets are alloy of 3 parts platinum and one part cobalt Platinum-based anodes are used in ships, pipelines, and steel piers.

One of the least known uses of platinum, and potentially most interesting, is in the original crown made for the Queen! This is the most evident example that proves the extreme value of the this metal and platinum element.

What is Platinum Used For

Platinum is also used as a catalyst for fuel cells to convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity. This use is marginal today, but tomorrow it could make the deck even more attractive.

The best example of how this is used today is by banks. Banks have platinum tier credit cards and accounts which allow the customers various different perks that are not given to lower level account holders. In the music industry, artists who sell more copies of their records or singles are given a platinum distinction as recognition of the high level of sales they have achieved.

Of course the main use of platinum is in jewellery. Platinum can be used to make various different types of rings, earrings, bracelets, The uses of platinum, watches and necklaces. These pieces of jewellery are the most expensive of their kind. Engagement rings are most commonly made with platinum, or at least have a platinum coat on the outside of what ever other metal is used underneath. By doing this, the ring will have the appearance of being produced and made with platinum. It also serves as a protective coat for the jewellery. The longevity of a piece of jewellery will greatly increase if it is coated with platinum.

Its wear- and tarnish-resistance characteristics are well-suited for making fine jewelry. Platinum and its alloys are used in surgical tools, laboratory utensils, electrical resistance wires, and electrical contact points. It is used (30%) as a catalyst in the catalytic converter, an optional component of the gasoline-fuelled automobile exhaust system. The largest use (50%) of platinum is used for jewellery, another 20% is used in industry: platinum is used in the chemical, electrical, glass and aircraft industries, each accounting for about 10 tonnes of the metal per year. The glass industry uses platinum for optical fibers and liquid crystal display glass, especially for laptops.

Atomic number : 78
Atomic mass : 195.09 g.mol -1
Electronegativity according to Pauling : 2.2
Density : 21.4 g.cm-3 at 20°C
Melting point : 1772 °C
Boiling point : 3800 °C
Vanderwaals radius : 0.138 nm
Ionic radius : 0.096 nm (+2)
Isotopes : 13
Electronic shell : [ Xe ] 4f14 5d9 6s1
Energy of first ionisation : 867 kJ.mol -1
Energy of second ionisation : 1788 kJ.mol -1
Discovered by : Julius Scaliger in 1735

Platinum belongs to the family of PGMs (PGM) that includes: Platinum (Pt), Palladium (Pd), Rodhium (Rh), Ruthérium (Ru), Iridium (Ir) and Osmium (Os). If the year 2010 gives me the time I’ll write a topic on the production and consumption of platinum as well as the price of rhodium to record more than 10 000 dollars an ounce (oz knowing that corresponds to 31,103 grams, it is an expensive gram). Platinum with its record to 2230 dollars per ounce in the early years is not even the most expensive elements of the family of PGMs.

It has a coefficient of expansion almost equal to that of the soda-lime-silica glass, and is therefore used to make sealed electrodes in glass systems. Hydrogen and oxygen gas mixtures explode in the presence of platinum wire.

There are also six naturally occurring isotopes : the most abundant to the platinum-194, which accounts for 33%, platinum-195 (34%) and platinum-196 (25%). The others are platinum-198 (7%), platinum-192 (1%) and platinum-190 (0.01%). The latter is weakly radioactive, with a half life of 700 billion years, while the other five are non-radioactive.

The return to the area of a thousand dollars an ounce of platinum now finally gives me an opportunity to discuss what has been wrongly named “small silver.” It is more, part of its rarity and its qualities, the big brother of gold that the little brother of the silver.

The price of platinum is unpredictable as oppose to the price of other precious metals. During the times of economic downturns, the price of gold usually increases. This causes the price of platinum to decrease to an amount that is below the price of gold. When the economy is stable, the price of platinum is most likely higher than gold, about twice the price of gold.

Platinum exists in higher abundances on the Moon and in meteorites. Correspondingly, platinum is found in slightly higher abundances at sites of bolide impact on the Earth that are associated with resulting post-impact volcanism, and can be mined economically, the Sudbury Basin is one such example.

Platinum is an extremely rare metal, occurring as only 0.003 ppb in the Earth’s crust. It is sometimes mistaken for silver (Ag).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, short-term exposure to platinum salts “may cause irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat” and long-term exposure “may cause both respiratory and skin allergies.” The current OSHA standard is 0.002 milligram per cubic meter of air averaged over an 8-hour work shift.

Certain platinum complexes are used in chemotherapy and show good anti-tumor activity for some tumors. Cisplatin is particularly effective against testicular cancer, cure rate was improved from 10% to 85%. However, the side effects are severe. Cisplatin causes cumulative, irreversible kidney damage and deafness. As with other ototoxic agents, deafness may be secondary to interactions with melanin in the stria vascularis.

As platinum is a catalyst in the manufacture of the silicone rubber and gel components of several types of medical implants (breast implants, joint replacement prosthetics, artificial lumbar discs, vascular access ports), the possibility that platinum could enter the body and cause adverse effects has merited study. The FDA and other countries have reviewed the issue and found no evidence to suggest toxicity in vivo.

Platinum primary occurrence is with other metal ores associated with basic igneous rocks. Platinum nuggets occur naturally as the uncombined metal, as does an alloy of platinum-iridium. Three-quarters of the world’s platinum comes from South Africa, where it occurs as cooperite, while Russia is the second largest produced, followed by North America. World production of platinum is around 155 tonnes a year and reserves total more than 30.000 tonnes