A very rare metal in the world
When people ask which metal costs the most, many instantly think of gold. Its price is strikingly high, hovering around the hundreds of dollars per gram at times, yet gold is not the priciest metal on the planet. A different element sits at the very top of the price charts: rhodium.
Today rhodium is among the most expensive precious metals and remains extraordinarily scarce. As of this publication, one ounce of rhodium trades well above most common metals, with prices fluctuating dramatically in recent years. A few months ago, benchmarks showed rhodium reaching multi-thousand-dollar levels, and, at one point, it surged toward the tens of thousands per ounce. Even so, rhodium’s value currently outstrips gold by many measures.
Why is rhodium so costly? Its chemical behavior helps explain its premium. Rhodium is highly resistant to oxidation and corrosion, behaving as a noble metal and a powerful catalyst. Its robust strength, combined with an exceptionally high melting point, places rhodium among the platinum group metals, alongside platinum, palladium, osmium, iridium, and ruthenium.
Rhodium is renowned for its ability to withstand heat and atmospheric conditions, maintaining stability up to high temperatures and remaining largely insoluble in most acids. This makes it exceedingly useful in automotive catalysts, aerospace components, electrical contacts, thermocouples, and high-temperature cables, as reported by science outlets and industry analyses.
Despite its allure and rarity, in 2019 nearly 90 percent of rhodium demand came from the jewelry sector, while another substantial portion supported vehicle catalytic converters, a practical application that underscores rhodium’s critical role in modern technology.
A very rare metal in the world
Rhodium occurs in extremely tiny amounts in the Earth’s crust, estimated at about 0.000037 parts per million, far below more common metals. By contrast, gold appears at roughly 0.0013 parts per million in the crust, according to recent chemical literature.
The main deposits of rhodium are concentrated in South Africa and Russia, though it also appears as a byproduct of refining copper and nickel ores. Annual production runs in the ballpark of tens of tons, with reserves estimated in the low thousands of tonnes, signaling a long-term scarcity that helps sustain its high value. The metal often surfaces along platinum-rich ore bodies, and its extraction typically involves removing platinum and palladium from the ore to reveal rhodium in a refined form.
While rhodium in its solid form shines with a bright, reflective silvery-white appearance, its name traces back to the Greek word rhodon, meaning rose, a nod to the pinkish-red hues observed in some rhodium salts.
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Note: For further reading and verification of facts, researchers point to industry catalogs and peer-reviewed chemistry resources. (IFLS Science portal, industry analyses, and chemistry references provide context for rhodium’s properties and market dynamics.)