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Formula: Pd
Native element, platinum group, forms series with
gold, with silver and with
platinum. When present in compounds, palladium exists mostly in the
oxidation state II (ChC).
Specific gravity: 11.9
Hardness: 4½ to 5
Colour: White to pale steel-grey
Solubility: Soluble in nitric acid
Melting point: 1,555oC
Boiling point: 2,960oC
Common impurities: Pt,Ir,Pb,Sn,Bi,Sb,Hg
Abundance: 15 parts per billion by mass, 2 parts per billion by moles in the Earth's crust, 3 parts per billion by mass,
40 part per trillion by moles in the Solar System (ChC)
Environments
Palladium occurs as a primary mineral in
platinum deposits and as an oxidation product of palladium-bearing
sulphides
(Dana).
Associated minerals include platinum-iron
alloys, palladium-mercury minerals,
gold,
gold-silver alloys,
lead and sobolevskite
(HOM).
Localities
The type locality is the Bom Sucesso Creek, Serro, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
At Limpopo, South Africa, palladium occurs within the weathering zone of the
platinum deposits, where it originates from oxidation of
palladium-bearing sulphides and of stibiopalladinite
(Ramdohr p338).
Palladium-bearing minerals include:
Alloys
atheneite
atokite
bortnikovite
cabriite
paolovite
plumbopalladinite
potarite
sluzhenikinite
taimyrite
tatyanaite
törnroosite
viteite
vincentite
zvyagintsevite
Antimonides
naldrettite
stibiopalladinite
sudburyite
Arsenides
arsenopalladinite
atheneite
isomertieite
majakite
mertieite
palarstanide
palladodymite
Bismuthides
froodite
polarite
sobolevskite
Germanides
marathonite
palladogermanide
Selenides
kalungaite
palladseite
Sulphides
kravtsovite
panskyite
thalhammerite
vymazalováite
vysotskite
Tellurides
borovskite
keithconnite
kotulskite
merenskyite
michenerite
sopcheite
telluropalladinite
testibiopalladite
vasilite
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