When you do, ask about shipping costs. Your items could qualify for free or discounted shipping when you send them to us. Six Traits of the Best Platinum Refiners.
We process gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium from jewelry scrap, electronic scrap, catalytic converters, platinum thermocouple wire and more.
Clark St. Can you tell the difference between platinum and silver in this photo? Myth One: Platinum Is So Hard that It Does Not Wear This misconception could have arisen because people confuse chromium which is hard with platinum which is softer than many people realize. If all else fails, take your piece to a jeweler to find out what kind of metal it is. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers.
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Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article methods. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Method 1. All rights reserved. This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc. Look for an inscription that says "platinum" on the item. More commonly, you will see a number like or 85 followed by "pt" or "plat.
Your platinum jewelry may not be stamped if it is from a country that does not require these markings or if it is very old. Inspect for a bright, white appearance, few scratches, and no tarnish. Compared to silver, white gold, and palladium, platinum has a brighter and whiter color. Compare to another piece of metal to see the difference.
It is also more scratch-resistant, although it can still be scratched. Natural platinum is fairly impure. It is always associated with small amounts of other elements gold, copper, nickel and iron and commonly contains the rare metals platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium.
Platinum was regarded as an unwanted impurity in the silver they were mining and it was often discarded. Note: Platinum is typically only used where a substitute is not available as it is very rare, or for prestige.
Platinum is both rarer and more expensive than gold. It also has a very high melting temperature and it is unattached by any single acid though soluble, like gold, in a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids. It is an incredibly stable mineral. Platinum is a metallic white to silver-gray colour.
Its streak is a shiny silver-gray. Crystals, if found, tent to be distorted cubes. Platinum has a very high specific gravity. Pure platinum would have a SG of For comparison, galena has a specific gravity of only 7. Platinum is mined mainly in South Africa, but also found in Russia and Zimbabwe. The metal is formed when minerals are eroded from their original spot and then carried by water somewhere else this is called stream bed mining or alluvial mining.
Workers sift through the sand or mud looking for gold, diamonds or platinum. Nowadays, platinum is more likely to be mined as ore from deep underground. Workers blast rock into small pieces and transport it to the surface for further processing. Platinum also may be found as a byproduct of processing other metals like nickel and copper. Most platinum is derived from a mineral called cooperite, also known as platinum sulfide.
Platinum is even found in outer space. Hawley's research papers, published in ," Luker says. Although platinum's strength and beauty have made it a jewelry favorite since the ancient Egyptians and Mayans, jewelry-making is hardly its only useful application. About half of platinum's demand is actually for use in catalytic converters for transportation vehicles like buses, cars and trucks, in large part because it's adept at converting harmful engine emissions into less damaging waste.
Platinum is also used as a catalyst to make chemicals like silicone, nitric acid and benzene.
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