Palladium

Palladium is found as a free metal and alloyed with platinum and gold with platinum group metals in placer deposits of the Ural Mountains, Australia, Ethiopia, South and North America.

Palladium is a ductile and malleable metal; it is silvery-white, heavy, and does not dissolve in hydrochloric or nitric acid and is resistant to corrosion and tarnishing as gold.

It is almost as rare and consequently is likewise highly valued and used in jewellery.

It is also used in the chemicals industry as a catalyst, in medicine as an anti-cancer drug, and in catalytic converters for car exhausts.