It was first discovered in 1803 by Smithson Tennant. Iridium is one of the rarest metals on earth. But for the month of March 2021, its value had reached $6,000 US per ounce, nearly three times the price of gold for the same month.Įxperts associate this price increase with the dependence of its supply on a single extraction zone (South Africa), and with “disruptions related to technical problems within the South African mining group Anglo American Platinum last year, as well as measures to restrict the movement of people in the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” BFM Business media says. During 2020, the average price per ounce (12.5 grams) of the metal was $2,550 US. Iridium is a very profitable metal, especially during the year 2021. RELATED CONTENT: Let Haiti Breathe – CORE Group Out of Haiti He made his remarks on Le Point on Radio Métropole. Vixamar argues that the noble metal also exists in the town of Bainet.įor Professor Vixamar, the exploitation of these reserves could allow the revival of Haiti’s economy as well as the creation of millions of jobs in several sectors of the national economy. Hildebrand, a graduate student at the University of Arizona, Dr. Besides the village of Beloc, where iridium was discovered in early 1990 by Alan K. Haiti’s iridium reserves are located in its Southeast Department. This information and its sources are also known by Haiti’s Bureau of Mines and Energy (BME), emphasizes the professor. He says that this assessment comes from South African experts following a study carried out in Haiti in 2014. The country is second in iridium reserves after South Africa, says economics development specialist, Dr. Haiti has one of the largest iridium reserves in the world. ![]() Its exploitation could be a lever for the revival of the Haitian economy and the creation of millions of jobs, argues the economics professor, Dr. ![]() Its resistance to high temperatures and corrosion makes it almost indispensable in the manufacture of aircraft engines and deep water pipelines. This metal is today worth more than gold and Bitcoin. is not very liquid so its price can shoot up if there are no sellers," German refiner Heraeus says.As difficult to work with as it is rare, iridium is found in large quantities in Haiti’s southeast, which has the second largest reserves in the world. Technical problems at South Africa's Anglo American Platinum mining group last year combined with the coronavirus outbreak and lockdowns to hamper operations.Ī decline in demand for platinum has meanwhile had a knock-on effect on iridium which is mined with it. It has a niche role too in helping disinfect water carried as ballast by ships, seen as a key conduit for the transport of invasive plant and animal species around the planet.Ī 2019 accord reached under the auspices of the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires ship operators to treat ballast water before it is discharged into the sea.Ī troy ounce (31 grammes) of iridium currently costs about $6,000, having tripled over the past four months, largely due to scarcity of supply. Those qualities make it especially sought after for mobile phones, where demand is soaring as 5G technology is rolled out, and in hydrogen fuel cells, potentially a key component in the transition to electric vehicles. Iridium is well suited to several industrial applications "because of its high melting point, hardness and resistance to corrosion," said John Plassard, an analyst with investment house Mirabaud. ![]() South Africa "accounts for some 80 percent of the six to eight tonnes of iridium mined each year," Vincent Donnen, at the top School of Mines in the eastern French city of Nancy, told AFP. It is extremely hard, with a very high melting point and is resistant to corrosion. Iridium is a by-product of platinum extraction and is used particularly in the electronics and chemical industries. Amazon Sale season is here! Splurge and save now! Click here
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