Current Palladium Price
NYMEX Palladium
(coming soon)
London Palladium
(coming soon)
palladium is a relative newcomer to the precious metals
market
You can invest in:
Physical Palladium Investments;
Small quantities of palladium coins
can be purchased for $50 and up
Palladium bars and wafers are also available but they are
not as easily available as palladium coins.
Non-physical Palladium Investments;
Convenient and "safer" alternative
Stocks, Mutual Funds & ETFs
Long term appreciation by investing in palladium
Palladium Options & Futures
Some but not many Palladium mining companies trade in public stock
exchanges
The two largest producers of Palladium are Russia, circa
50%, and South Africa.
Both Palladium and Platinum can be used in catalytic
converters commonly use in the the car manufacturing
industry. The two metals are more or less equally effective
but Palladium tolerates more heat than Platinum.
Approximately 40% of the total Platinum demand and around
58% of the Palladium demand in 2005 came from worldwide
motor industry.
In 2001 Palladium reached a high of US$ 1090.00 an ounce,
while Platinum was trading at circa US$620.00 per ounce.
Around the same 2000-2001 time period; the Ford Motor
Corporation stockpiled 1,800,000 ounces of Palladium which
created a Price bubble that eventually would cost Ford
motors nearly US$1 billion dollars.
|
Palladium
is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46.
A soft, ductile,
steel-white,
tarnish-resistant, metallic
element occurring naturally
with platinum, especially in
gold, nickel, and copper
ores.
Palladium is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal that was
discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, who named it after
the asteroid Pallas, which was named after the epithet of the
Greek goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Pallas.
[Pallas, goddess of
wisdom]
The Asteroid PALLAS was discovered at the
same time as the element.
As with other asteroids, the astronomical
symbol for Pallas is its Discovery number
circled,
②
However, it also has dedicated symbols
 , sometimes
Palladium is found in placer deposits of
Russia, South America, North America,
Ethiopia, and Australia. It is also found
associated with the nickel-copper deposits
of South Africa and Ontario.
Palladium's separation from the platinum
metals depends upon the type of ore in which
it is found.
Although it is a rare element, palladium
tends to occur along with deposits of
platinum, nickel, copper, silver and gold
and is recovered as a byproduct of mining
these other metals.
Palladium, along with platinum, rhodium,
ruthenium, iridium and osmium form a group
of elements referred to as the platinum
group metals (PGMs).
Palladium at room temperature can absorb up
to 900 times its own volume of hydrogen
hence it is used as a purification filter
for hydrogen and a catalyst in
hydrogenation.
Palladium dichloride (PdCl2), a palladium
compound, can absorb large amounts of carbon
monoxide (CO) gas and is used in carbon
monoxide detector
Platinum group metals share similar chemical
properties, but palladium has the lowest
melting point and is the least dense of
these precious metals.
Palladium alloys are used to make jewelry
and, when alloyed with gold, forms a
material known as white gold.
| Atomic
Number: |
46 |
|
Atomic Symbol: |
Pd |
| Atomic
Weight: |
106.42 |
|
Electron Configuration: |
[Kr]4d10 |
| Total
Isotopes: |
45 |
| Total
Isomers: |
11 |
|
Radioactive Isotopes: |
28 |
| Stable
Isotopes: |
6 |
| Melting
Point: |
1828.05 K (1554.9°C or
2830.8°F) |
| Boiling
Point: |
3236
K (2963°C or 5365°F) |
|
Estimated Crustal Abundance: |
1.5×10-2 milligrams
per kilogram
|
|
Estimated Oceanic Abundance: |
No Data
Available |
| Number
of Stable Isotopes: |
6 |
|
Ionization Energy: |
8.337
eV |
|
Oxidation States: |
+3, +2 |
|
Density: |
12.0
grams per cubic centimeter |
|
Specific Gravity: |
12.02
(20°C) |
| Valence: |
2, 3, 4 |
|
