| Platinum and its alloys have been known for a long time. First it was described in 1557 by the Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger, as a metal (transitional metal), which cannot be melted by any fire nor by any Spanish technique. It reflects somewhat diminishing attitude, negligence towards platinum as something useless, which cannot be treated. The word "platinum" comes from the Spanish word platina, meaning "little silver". |
| Transition metal Platinum is one of the rarest elements. Its crustal abundance is 5x10-7 mass %. Platinum occurs as native metal as well as in compounds. Most important platinum-bearing minerals are polyxene which contains 6-10% iron, as well as palladic platinum, (60-90% platinum, 7-39% palladium), ferroplatinum (contains 12-20% iron), iridioplatinum (55-60% platinum and up to 30% iridium), sperrylite PtAs2, cooperate with general formula (Pt,Pd,Ni)S and braggite (Pt, Pd, Ni)S. Commercially most important deposits are located in South Africa, Russia, and Canada. |