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The value of most metals is correlated to the metal’s rarity. Over the past few decades, investing in metals has become a more viable alternative to the more unregulated and uncertain stock market. Many of the valuable metals listed on this top ten list have multiple applications. Some metals are used for jewelry. while others are used for components within aircraft and auto engines. So here is the list of the top ten most valuable metals in the world:
Indium is a rare metal that is a product of zinc-ore dispensation, lead, iron and copper ores combined. Indium is a white metal when it is extremely pure and is gleaming and soft. It was first widely used first during World War II as an outside layers for bearings in airplane engines. It was discovered by the German chemists Ferdinand Reich and Hieronymus Theodor Richter in 1863. Reich and Richter were looking for traces of the element thallium in samples of zinc ores. Today, Indium is used to generate corrosive-resistant mirrors.
Silver can be found in ores of horn silver and agentite. It is a by-product of dispensation and smelting of gold and lead-zinc ores. China, Mexico and Chile are currently the leading producers of the metal. Silver is in short supply compared to gold. In 1950 the above ground silver available was 10 billion ounces. In 1980 that was came down to 3.5 million ounces. In 2010, it went down even more to 500 to 700 million ounces.
Osmium is considered to be one of the thickest metals, it is bluish-silver in colour. Moreover, it is a fragile metal that has a high melting point. Russia and North and South America are deemed to be the leading producers of the precious metal. It is used to solidify platinum alloys for electrical associates and filaments. It was discovered in 1803 by Smithson Tennant and William Hyde Wollaston in London, England and is connected with that of platinum and the other metals of the platinum group.
It is a metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. Actually, the second-largest usage of palladium in electronics is in the industry of multilayer ceramic capacitors. In addition, it is used in plating of electronic works and in fusing materials. The electronic division used about 1.07 million troy ounces of palladium in 2006.
Though it not as well known as fellow precious metals like gold and platinum, rhenium is one of the densest metals and has the third highest melting point in the world. The only metals to surpass that are tungsten and carbon. Rhenium is most widely used to make jet engine parts, by means of 70% of the universal rhenium productions. Other uses of rhenium are filaments, and thermocouples. It is a by-product of molybdenum, which happens to be a by-product of copper mining. Chile, Kazakhstan and the United States are the leading producers of this valuable metals.