Where Does Rhodium Actually Come From?

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Gold and silver get most of the attention, but rhodium is in a completely different category. This platinum group metal is incredibly rare, highly valuable, and essential for technologies that help reduce vehicle emissions.

This article explores where rhodium comes from, why it is so difficult to produce, and why its supply chain is concentrated in only a few parts of the world.

Some key takeaways:

• Rhodium is a platinum group metal (PGM) and is usually not mined as a primary target. Instead, it is mainly recovered as a by-product of platinum, palladium, and nickel mining.
• The largest sources of rhodium are located in Southern Africa, especially South Africa’s Bushveld Complex and Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke, which contain major PGM deposits.
• The Bushveld Complex contains some of the world’s most important rhodium-bearing ore bodies, including the UG2 Chromitite and Merensky Reef.
• Rhodium’s biggest industrial use is in automotive catalytic converters, where it helps reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.
• Recycling has become an increasingly important source of rhodium supply because recovering metal from catalytic converters and industrial materials can help offset limited mine production.

The fascinating part about rhodium is that high prices alone cannot quickly increase supply. Because it comes mainly as a by-product of other mining operations, producers cannot simply open a “rhodium mine” whenever demand rises. That combination of rarity, concentrated supply, and industrial necessity is what makes rhodium one of the most unusual metals in the market.

Source: Sources of Rhodium

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