Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Iridium currently "low" price

plante1999 - 19-1-2014 at 05:45

I just observed that iridium was particularly low priced recently, and it may be interesting to buy some for experimentation while the price is low. The problem is that most source I saw sell it at 50$ per gram, which is more then three time the actual value of the iridium.

Does anyone as a source for gram quantity of iridium near today prices?

Mailinmypocket - 19-1-2014 at 08:03

There is a seller on eBay (pickbestforyou) selling iridium powder for 29$/g plus shipping... If you want powder. That's the cheapest I was able to find so far...



[Edited on 19-1-2014 by Mailinmypocket]

Blue Matter - 19-1-2014 at 08:10

In the coming year I will have more indium to sell it just won't be any time soon.

plante1999 - 19-1-2014 at 08:15

Blue matter, I was talking about IRIDIUM, a platinum group metal, and not indium.

Blue Matter - 19-1-2014 at 08:17

Oh sorry for the misunderstanding I know where to get that pretty cheep also but it would require like 60g to be purches probably

plante1999 - 19-1-2014 at 08:26

That would be a lot to much for me even at 15$/per gram, but I guess if many member want some and it is cheap, why not?

jock88 - 19-1-2014 at 16:37

http://www.americanelements.com/irmbcn.html

any addition?

plante1999 - 19-1-2014 at 16:39

Yes, what is the price?

BromicAcid - 19-1-2014 at 17:46

You need to e-mail them. PGM prices fluctuate too heavily for American Elements to post prices for them on their site. Do you have any plan for the iridium or is it just too cheap to pass by? There are plenty of other cheap elements that can be picked up to explore the various chemistries that are more readily available.

plante1999 - 19-1-2014 at 18:05

Some complex for various catalyzed reactions I might do someday, and while I could afford a few gram of Iridium it might be the time to buy it.

Blue Matter - 19-1-2014 at 20:46

I think it would be a cool sort of investment also cause it always fluctuates

jock88 - 20-1-2014 at 14:58


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-pounds-of-Hard-Drive-Platters-fo...

Do these thing actually HAVE any Pt/Ir that can be recovered?

They are describes thus "as removed from HD"

cyanureeves - 20-1-2014 at 15:15

i doubt those platters contain platinum because i plated a belt buckle with a similar platter using baking soda and water alone.an annode dissolves somewhat after it pushes out electrons out of solution and i highly doubt platinum would dissolve that easy with baking soda.if i have a platinum plated belt buckle then i would be able to use it to make perchlorate.my belt buckle was plated within 3-4 mins. after it was immersed.

jock88 - 20-1-2014 at 15:54


Indeed!

Fleaker - 21-1-2014 at 09:54

There is platinum on the surface of some hard drive disk platters, but it is very small. Just enough to see with x-ray fluorescence.

That first link does not look like iridium sponge to me, more like filings of some kind; good iridium should be a light gray heavy powder. To be perfectly honest, it's a real bastard to dissolve it, so I'd recommend getting a salt if you plan on doing anything chemical with it.

The premium you pay on iridium is because someone has to weigh it out, and that there's not much money made in selling it at spot. Most metals have a spot price for a standard industrial form, and then a mark up for any fabricated goods. Given that Ir is about as difficult to fabricate as a metal can get, the mark up is usually more than the metal contained for the hassle of working with it.

Also, if you plan to do any chemistry, get known or certed material to work with (min 99,9% Ir).

You might try galliumsource.com; Kurt should have some.

zed - 1-2-2014 at 17:54

Buy at spot if you can, but in order to buy at spot price, you have to buy a lot.

I once considered buying some Silver at spot price. The Spot price quote is for one thousand ounces.

violet sin - 1-2-2014 at 18:58

silver is really not that hard to get at spot price in small amounts. if anything perhaps a tiny % higher cost. if you pay attention you can still snag the occasional one on ebay as such. just stop bidding if it goes too high, and look for auctions about to end that are still low. on another note, I have a 10 Oz. pour and a couple Zombucks 1 Oz. coins waiting for me net time I head to the coast :D lotta hard work turned to shiny shiny silver.
http://www.providentmetals.com/bullion/bullion-by-series/zom...

the thing that got me was a while back, ruthenium price searching. spot was like 62$/Oz, but the cheapest I could get it was ebay @~300$. I did find one site that would sell for near spot, but the min was 50 Oz. order for that cost. the ruthenium price was still quite low recently.

ruthenium ebay starting at 325$
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ruthenium-metal-ingot-one-troy-ounce...

ruthenium spot for 1-30-14 = $60 @ johnson matthey
http://www.quandl.com/JOHNMATT/RUTH-Ruthenium-Prices

TheChemiKid - 2-2-2014 at 06:23

Quote: Originally posted by Blue Matter  
In the coming year I will have more indium to sell it just won't be any time soon.


Haha, I made the same mistake as well. I thought plante was going crazy with the $50/g, when you can buy indium for < $1/g.
'facepalm'

BromicAcid - 13-2-2014 at 17:12

Cheapest that I have found aside from Alibaba.

http://preciousmetalpurchase.com/metals/iridium/