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Precious metalprecious metal is a rare metallic chemical element of high, durable economic value. Chemically, the precious metals are less reactive than most elements, have high luster, and have higher melting points than other metals. Historically, precious metals were important as currency, but are now regarded mainly as investment and industrial commodities. Gold, silver, platinum and palladium though are still internationally recognized as forms of currency under ISO 4217.liquid crystal ludwig mies van der rohe lunar missions magnetic tape major appliances The best-known precious metals are gold and silver. While both have industrial uses, they are better known for their uses in art, jewelry, and coinage. Other precious metals include the Platinum group metals: ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum, of which platinum is the most widely traded. Plutonium and uranium could also be considered precious metals.The demand for precious metals is driven not only by their practical use, but also by their role as investments and a store of value. Palladium is, as of February 28 2006, valued ($284 USD per ounce) at a little over half the price of gold ($561 USD/ounce), and platinum ($1,050 USD/ounce) at about twice that of gold. Silver is substantially less expensive ($9.77 USD/ounce) than these metals, presently at 1/58 the price of gold, but is often traditionally considered a precious metal for its role in coinage and jewelry.
Solid Navy Cotton skirted futon slipcover Bullionmaster builder mathematics methods of image creation methods of stereo recording natural history Precious metals in bulk form are known as bullion, and are traded on commodity markets. Bullion metals may be cast into ingots, or minted into coins. The defining attribute of bullion is that it is valued by its mass and purity rather than by a face value as money. A given metal is precious if it is rare. If mining or refining processes improve, or new supplies are discovered and exploited, the value of such a metal declines.An interesting case of a precious metal going common is that of aluminum. Aluminum was, when it was first discovered, extremely difficult to separate from the ore it was part of and, since the whole of the Earth's aluminum was bound up in the form of compounds, the most difficult metal on earth to get, despite the fact that it is one of the planet's most common. performance plywood, masonite and fibreboard portland cement postmodern literature products For a while, aluminum was more valuable than gold; bars of aluminum were exhibited alongside the French crown jewels at the Exposition Universelle (1855). However, the price dropped continually and collapsed altogether when an easy extraction method, the Hall-Héroult process, was discovered in 1886.The rarity of various metals may again be in for a shift, however. According to USGS statistics, at current production rates all the gold in the earth's crust will theoretically be processed within several decades. Meanwhile, silver is in a structural supply deficit, with 300 million troy ounces (9,000,000 kg) more being consumed each year than is mined--it may currently be more rare than gold. |
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