With high palladium trading prices, now is a good time to liquidate your palladium scrap holdings. 

Demand is high. Because palladium is a secondary product that is recovered from platinum and nickel mining, miners have limited ability to increase palladium output in response to rising prices. 

Are coins and bullion bars good investments? In today’s post, you will learn what you need to know to make a good decision about whether to sink your money into these popular investments. 

The platinum group metals - platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium look pretty much the same. They are all bright, shiny white metals that do not tarnish. And if you’re dealing with platinum group metal scrap – the stuff that is left over after different industrial processes – it all looks pretty much the same. 

Another way to identify precious metals . . . 

Do Precious Metals Have Distinctive Smells or Tastes?

We have written on this blog before about what gold, silver, platinum, and other metals look like. Gold is yellow and doesn’t tarnish, for example. Silver is white in color and does collect a layer of chalky tarnish. And platinum is white in color and doesn’t tarnish. 

The platinum group metals (PGMs) consist of six chemically and physically similar elements: platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), iridium (Ir), and osmium (Os). These metals are often alloyed with each other and with other elements to create materials with specific properties for various industrial and other applications. 

Platinum engagement rings are not rare. Maybe you called off an engagement and your former fiancé gallantly said, “I gave the ring to you . . . it’s yours, so keep it.” Or maybe you find some platinum engagement ring blanks (rings that have not yet had stones mounted in them) in a jewelry manufacturing company that went out of business. 

We recently asked Dan Fried, Founder and CEO of Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners, to name a few places where platinum can be found. Some of his advice was surprising and if you follow it, we predict you will find platinum that you can recycle for money. 

Platinum alloys are valuable and are commonly used in various industrial applications, including electronics, jewelry, and more. And if you can find platinum and platinum alloy scrap, chances are good that you will be able to recycle it for a good payback. After all, platinum is now trading for $908.00/troy ounce. That means that even a small quantity of platinum scrap you find can often result in a big profit for you. 

The platinum family metals, also known as the platinum group metals (PGMs), are a group of six elements that share similar chemical properties. These metals are highly valuable and have various industrial applications, making them attractive for investment purposes. 

The six platinum family metals are:

Is platinum toxic?

In its pure form, platinum is inert and does not react with most chemicals or substances, including acids and bases. This property makes it highly resistant to corrosion and tarnish. Consequently, platinum is often used in medical and dental implants, such as pacemakers, stents, and dental crowns, due to its biocompatibility and resistance to corrosion.

What are platinum group metals, where are they found and what are they used for?

Platinum group metals (PGMs) are a group of six metallic elements that belong to the platinum group on the periodic table. 

Let’s say you have a quantity of platinum scrap. It could be a few barrels full of old thermocouple wire, a batch of platinum wire you acquired from a jewelry factory that was going out of business, or even some old turbine blades from jet engines. 

When someone mentions devices that clean exhaust gas, chances are you think, “I know what they are . . . they’re catalytic converters that are installed on cars.”

But there are other kinds of exhaust gas purifiers that can be recycled profitably – varieties that you might not know about. They too can contain platinum, rhodium, and even palladium. We’ll give you a quick course on what these other kinds of exhaust gas purifiers are and how you can make money reclaiming them by having us recycle them for you.

While you’ve been driving around recently, you have certainly noticed a growing number of electric cars on the road. Yes, Teslas and other electric cars are gaining market share against gas-powered cars. But how soon will it be until gas-powered vehicles disappear?

As precious metal investors, we need to watch this trend, which will shape both the availability and the demand for different precious metals:

From Blackberry to iPhone and Beyond . . .

Scientists and lay people (otherwise known as “the men and women in the street”) love to predict the death of precious metals. They like to believe that gold, silver and platinum will lose value because they will be replaced by other materials and other chemicals in a lot of devices and applications.

Okay, You think you know all there is to know about precious metal scrap, here’s a question for you . . .

What precious metals are found in a regular old gas-powered automobile?

Chances are you can answer that question without thinking too hard about it. A gas or diesel-powered car contains gold (in the printed circuit boards that are onboard), some silver in them too, and a small quantity of platinum in its catalytic converter.

In one of the biggest automotive recalls in history, General Motors has informed 141,000 owners of Chevrolet Bolt electric cars that they have to bring their cars in to have their batteries replaced.

We hope you made a lot of money in 2020 by having us test and recycle your silver, gold and even platinum scrap. But as you have noticed, a new year is dawning, so we would like to remind you that there is money to be made – sometimes a great deal of money – by investing in these additional forms of precious metal scrap.

If you have precious metal items that you would like to refine for profit, “Where is there a precious metal refinery near me?” is a logical question to ask. The problem is, it might not be the right question to ask. Here are some of the reasons.