If you’re a company that routinely works with precious metals, then you know that recycling your scrap is one of the best ways to return revenue to your business. For dentists especially, palladium scrap is one of the resources you need to capitalize on. An incredibly valuable precious metal with many industrial uses, palladium can be found in a wide range of recyclable items.
We’ll show you how to find palladium scrap to recycle. But first we’ll give a brief explanation of what palladium is and its history.
What Is Palladium?
If you’ve confused palladium for platinum in the past, no one could blame you. Palladium is like platinum in appearance due to its silvery-white color. It is also one of the six elements in the platinum group metals (PGMs), which includes:
- Platinum
- Rhodium
- Ruthenium
- Osmium
- Iridium
Palladium was discovered in 1802 by the British scientist William Hyde Wollaston. His scientific colleagues at the time questioned his discovery, claiming palladium was an alloy of platinum and mercury. It took several years for his new metal to be recognized and listed on the elemental table with the Pd symbol and an atomic number of 46.
Palladium is sourced from parts of South Africa, Russia, Canada and the United States. Although it is very rare, you can still find palladium in various recyclable items.
Where You Can Find Palladium Scrap
You can find palladium scrap in many different items. A couple places to look include:
- Palladium alloys used for manufacturing: Look out for palladium sponges, palladium flakes, palladium sputter and sputtering targets
- Palladium jewelry items: This can include rings, chains, bracelets, jewelry scrap
- Palladium catalysts: Palladium can be found in automotive catalysts, industrial catalysts, palladium foil catalysts, petroleum refining catalysts
- Palladium resins: These are chemicals used in manufacturing processes
- Palladium plated items: Look for palladium in jewelry and decorative products
- Dental palladium: Nearly 1 million ounces of palladium are used every year in dental applications. Much of the dental palladium we work with is combined with other metals like gold, but we can easily separate them.
Selling Your Palladium Scrap
With palladium trading at +$2,000 per ounce, now is a good time to start thinking about recycling your palladium products. Consider selling your palladium scrap precious metal refiner like Manhattan Gold & Silver – our refining process is 100 percent transparent, and we offer the quickest and most accurate payments.
FAQs
You can find palladium scrap in many different items. A couple places to look include: Palladium alloys used for manufacturing: Look out for palladium sponges, palladium flakes, palladium sputter and sputtering targets. Palladium jewelry items: This can include rings, chains, bracelets, jewelry scrap.
What household items contain palladium? ›
Most palladium is used in catalytic converters for cars. It is also used in jewellery and some dental fillings and crowns. White gold is an alloy of gold that has been decolourised by alloying with another metal, sometimes palladium.
Where is palladium most commonly found? ›
Palladium is a metal found primarily in Russia, South Africa, and Canada. It is stronger than platinum and has a wide range of uses, from dentistry to automotive to manufacturing to electronics.
Where is the easiest place to find rhodium? ›
If you want to go looking for rhodium, you better catch a plane to South Africa, the largest producer of rhodium by way of the country's massive platinum mining operations. You can also find it in river sands of North and South America, or in the copper-nickel sulfide ores in Ontario, Canada.
Which capacitors contain palladium? ›
Palladium is employed as an electrode material in multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). These components can be easily removed from PCBs by de-soldering. As palladium is alloyed with silver, its dissolution is readily achieved using dilute nitric acid.
How do I find scrap palladium? ›
You can find palladium scrap in many different items. A couple places to look include: Palladium alloys used for manufacturing: Look out for palladium sponges, palladium flakes, palladium sputter and sputtering targets. Palladium jewelry items: This can include rings, chains, bracelets, jewelry scrap.
What scrap has palladium in it? ›
Common Sources of Palladium Scrap Today
Palladium-plated jewelry, including rings, and bracelets. (Palladium can be plated onto other metals to make jewelry that looks white and shiny and resists tarnishing.) Palladium sponges, flakes, and other scrap used in plating and manufacturing operations.
What does raw palladium look like? ›
Raw palladium has a bright, silvery-white color, similar to platinum, but with a slightly darker hue.
Does palladium stick to magnet? ›
White gold will contain silver, and maybe palladium (neither are magnetic), or nickel (which is magnetic, but the proportion of nickel will be very low).
Is palladium easy to find? ›
Palladium can also form inside platinum, nickel, gold, silver, or copper deposits. Despite the multitude of potential options, it is still quite rare to unearth. You are more likely to find the aforementioned metals in their own deposits over palladium.
In nature it is found with other platinum group minerals and metals. These characteristics combined with its low electrical resistance makes rhodium commonly used as an electrical contact material for electrical contacts, semiconductor wafers, printed circuit boards (PCBs), and other mission critical components.
What everyday items contain rhodium? ›
Rhodium is used for several different things, such as automobiles, jewelry, searchlights, electronics and mirrors. By far the most common use is in catalytic converters, which are exhaust emission control devices that look like a small muffler on the outside of a vehicle.
Where do you find scrap rhodium? ›
Found generally in two different places, catalytic converters, and jewelry. Rhodium is used to be coated onto gold jewelry to be able to create “white gold.” The primary use for Rhodium is in the catalytic converter market and is helped to negate the fumes and emissions from car engines.
What electronics have the most palladium? ›
According to the International Platinum Group Metals Association, in the electronics sector, most palladium is used for multi-layer ceramic (chip) capacitors (MLCC). MLCCs store energy in electronic devices such as broadcasting equipment, mobile telephones, computers, electronic lighting and high voltage circuits.
What column is palladium in? ›
Palladium (Pd) is a chemical element with an atomic number of 46 and an atomic mass of 106.42. The element was discovered in 1803 by William Wollaston and named after the asteroid Pallas. Palladium can be found in period 5 of group 10 of the periodic table and is a part of the d-block or transition metal elements.
Where is palladium found in everyday life? ›
Palladium is also used in electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical applications, groundwater treatment, and jewelry. Palladium is a key component of fuel cells, in which hydrogen and oxygen react to produce electricity, heat, and water.
What foods are high in palladium? ›
Palladium was present in most food groups above the LOD of 0.0003 mg/kg with the highest concentrations found in nuts (0.003mg/kg), bread, offal, and fish groups (all 0.002mg/kg).
Where can I find platinum in everyday items? ›
The precious metal's uses are extensive, including jewelry, automotive, chemical processing, and electronics. The electronics you use daily, from the display on your smartphone to the hard drive in your computer, contain platinum.
