The most expensive metal in the world is not gold and platinum

To answer the question about which metal is the most expensive in the world, it is necessary to divide all "contestants" into two conditional groups: existing in nature and artificial ones, that is, obtained in laboratories. The fact is that the real value of metals from the second group is several orders of magnitude higher than the first.

First, let's look at expensive metals that exist in nature.

One of them is ruthenium. It was opened in 1844, in the periodic table of Mendeleev it is in the so-called platinum group. Ruthenium is bright gray, used in electronics, and also used to impart increased hardness to alloys. Its cost is 15 dollars per gram.

The next contender for the title "the most expensive metal in the world" is osmium. This substance is a bluish-silvery hue with a high density, has an unpleasant smell. It is used in pharmaceutics (the drug "Cortozin"), in the chemical industry as a catalyst. The price of osmium is 19 dollars per 1 gram.

The top three opens gold - the most expensive metal in the world for many centuries of human history. At the moment it is the most malleable metal, it exists exclusively in pure form. Resistance to corrosion, plasticity and high cost made gold the best material for jewelry production. The price constantly varies around 30-40 dollars per gram with a tendency to increase.

In second place, platinum is the most expensive metal in the world in the jewelry industry. Obtain platinum only in the form of alloys with other metals. Application - jewelry, medicine, weapons production. The cost is 70 dollars for 1 gram.

The absolute champion of the environment of natural metals is rhodium. The substance is silvery with excellent reflective properties. Typically, it is used in the automotive industry for the production of high quality headlamps and mirrors. Approximate cost - 225 dollars for each gram.

Let's look at two champions outside of all categories - the metals obtained in laboratories, the so-called isotopes.

Vice-champion outside the categories - isotope osmium-187. It was first obtained in the UK by dissolving platinum in a mixture of two acids: nitric and hydrochloric. The substance is purple-black with an incredibly high density - the largest on the planet Earth. Nevertheless, the metal is very fragile. Obtaining osmium-187 is incredibly difficult, and no country in the world currently sells this metal for export. Kazakhstan, which until recently produced this isotope for export, set a price bracket of 10 thousand dollars per gram. After the supply ceased, the price for osmium-187 jumped to 200,000 per gram.

And, finally, the most expensive metal in the world is California. Was received in the USA in 1950. This element has truly unlimited possibilities in nuclear power: as a powerful neutron source, it is easily able to replace an atomic reactor. World production a year hardly exceeds a couple of tens of milligrams, and therefore California has an astronomical value: 6 and a half million dollars per gram!