We recently posted an article, “What Is Rhodium Oxide?” on this blog. If you missed it, we’d  urge you to read it now. Rhodium is a precious metal that should definitely be on your radar.

Rhodium oxide is a chemical compound formed by rhodium, a rare and precious transition metal, and oxygen. There are multiple oxides of rhodium, but the most common is rhodium(III) oxide, which has a chemical formula Rh2O3. In this compound, rhodium exhibits a +3 oxidation state.

Rhodium is a hard metal. It looks like chrome, and it is highly resistant to corrosion.

But mostly, rhodium is extremely rare . . . and extremely valuable. It is a precious metal. And “precious” is the right word, because rhodium is trading today at $10,750.00 on the London Fix. That’s significantly more than the current trading prices of gold ($1,798.00) or even platinum ($1,011.00). But there’s a lot more you should know about rhodium too – information that can help you refine this “other” precious metal for quite a lot of money.

Here’s a primer of useful information about rhodium.

Platinum, platinum family metals and even ultra-precious rhodium are now used in a growing number of medical devices. Plus, gold and silver are finding their way into medicines that are used to treat a growing number of diseases – though not yet Covid-19, apparently. (Do note, however, that some claims have been made that colloidal silver medicines can be useful against Covid-19; we are not qualified to judge those claims, but literature we have found online indicates be that such medicines are probably not effective.)

As we write today’s post, platinum is trading on the London Fix for $1,244.00. That’s a nice high price. And what about Rhodium? It’s trading for $24,500.00.

No, that is not a typo . . . rhodium really is trading for the sky-high price of $24,500.00 per Troy Ounce.

What is rhodium? Let’s start today’s post with the basics. It is a white-toned precious metal (atomic symbol Rh) that is also an element. It is one of the platinum group metals.

And Rhodium is rare, obtained in very small quantities as a byproduct of platinum and nickel mining, principally in Canada and Russia. Because it is so rare in nature and so difficult to obtain, it is in great demand from sources that include jewelry and catalysts.

A pretty good precious metal refinery might be good enough – or almost good enough – if they are recycling a batch of silver-plated tableware, candlesticks, or other fairly commonplace kinds of silver scrap for you. After all, if the refinery you are using let’s a troy ounce of silver go down the drain, which will cost you about $16.00 at today’s trading prices. Okay, that is bad, and the precious metals refinery you are using should never let any metal of yours slip away. But if you are having that refinery process, say, a few hundred pounds of silver scrap, maybe you can live with the loss of an ounce of silver.

People are buzzing about rhodium these days, for some very compelling reasons. One is that rhodium is trading at a very high price, currently $9,500 on the London Fix. Compare that to gold, which is trading for $1572 or even palladium, which is trading at $2181.

If you invest in precious metals, chances are you would answer that question by saying, “It’s a precious metal that is used as a thin plating on jewelry.” You probably know that rhodium, if plated onto brass, creates the impression of platinum or even white gold.

As we write today’s post, rhodium is trading at $2,620 on the London Fix. And investors are buying 1 oz. rhodium bullion bars for up to $2,900.

But if you shop online, you will discover that rhodium-plated rings, earrings and chains are selling for $20.00 or less. That is not a typo – they really are selling for surprisingly low prices. What is going on? How can that be?

Chances are that you only find small quantities of the valuable secondary platinum group metals (palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium) hiding in recyclable items that you think are made only of platinum. How can you tell if these rarer metals are present?