About Precious Metals

Gold

Gold (Au) is a precious metal golden and yellow in colour highly prized for its rarity and various special properties. It is a dense metal with great heat and electrical conductibility, also a highly malleable and ductile yet non-reactive metal that does not tarnish or rust. It is also commonly alloyed with other metals (e.g., copper, silver, nickel, palladium, zinc, etc.) to achieve other attributes.

Gold is well-known for its use in jewelry, coinage, and bullion. Meanwhile, it is also important in different industrial applications. Gold is highly dependable and durable as a conductor and connector with excellent resistance to corrosion, pollution, high temperature and humidity. Gold-plated connections can be commonly found in electronic devices like cell phones, computers and laptops, calculators, global positioning system (GPS) units, medical devices, etc.

Gold is coated on to different materials across industries. In the aerospace and defense industries, gold connections in space vehicles provide stable and durable performance under extreme conditions and gold-coated polyester film is commonly applied to protect space vehicles from infrared radiation. A thin film of gold can also be found on the astronaut’s space suit helmet to protect the astronaut. Similarly, for specialty glasses for climate-controlled buildings, gold is dispersed within the glass or coated on the surface to reflect solar radiation.

Silver

Silver (Ag) is a rare and valuable precious metal. Besides its use in jewelry and coins, silver is used in a wide range of industrial applications by virtue of its unique properties: good corrosion and oxidation resistance, best thermal and electrical conductibility, high malleability and ductility, antimicrobial and non-toxic qualities, high luster and reflectivity, and great photosensitivity.

Some of the common industrial uses of silver:

• In Electronics: electrical contacts (electrical switches), silver electrodes in LEDs, silver-zinc batteries in computers and electric cars, etc.
• In Energy: photovoltaic cells in solar panels; control rods in nuclear reactors
• In Brazing and Soldering: joints between metal pipes (e.g., water pipes)
• In Chemical Production: a vital catalyst in the production of two major industrial chemicals: ethylene oxide and formaldehyde
• In Photography: silver halide in non-digital consumer photography, film, and X-rays
• In Medicine: silver coating for medical devices, silver in bandages and dressings, eye drops, and dental hygiene to prevent infection, etc.
• In Mirrors and Glass: silver coating on mirrors and modern building windows, and silver-coated tiles on space craft
• In Engines: silver-coated ball bearings
• In hygiene: nano-silver as an antibacterial and antifungal agent in water filters, cosmetics, food containers, etc.

Platinum and Platinum Group Metals

Platinum (Pt) is a naturally occurring white precious metal, which has always been regarded as one of the most precious metals. Platinum (density: 21.43g/cm3, melting point: 1773°C) is more dense and has a higher melting point than gold, but the output is only 1/20 of that of gold. It is a precious metal with better chemical stability, rarer, more precious, and more valuable than gold. Platinum belongs to the platinum group along with other five rare metals: ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), osmium (Os), and iridium (Ir).

The platinum metals have very distinctive properties: high chemical resistance, high mechanical strength and harness, stable electrical properties, excellent high-temperature characteristics, high corrosion resistance and good ductility. These physical and chemical properties make them suitable for demanding applications: chemical catalyst in industrial processes and in vehicle exhaust system; glass fibre and high purity glass industries (e.g., LCD); anticancer drugs, dental fillings, laboratory equipment and surgical instruments; electrical contacts (computer hard disks and thermocouples) in electronics; turbine blades in the aerospace industry.

List of Precious Metals Scrap Globe Metal® Recycles: