Palladium

palladium

platinum

sobolevskite

lead

Images

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: 1,555^oC
Boiling point: 2,960^oC
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

Placer deposits

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 - an alloy is a substance that combines more than one metal or mixes a metal with other non-metallic elements
Arsenides - the arsenide anion is As^3-
Antimonides - the antimonide anion is Sb^3-
Germanides - a germanide is any compound of germanium and a more electropositive element or elements
Sulphides - the sulphide anion is S^2-
Selenides - the selenide anion is Se^2-
Tellurides - the telluride anion is Te^2-
Sulphosalt - A_mB_nX_p: where A is a metal , B usually a semi-metal and X is sulphur, selenium or tellurium
Bismuthides - the bismuthide anion is Bi^3-

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