Precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum have captivated humans for thousands of years. Their rarity, beauty, and utility as currency have made them highly valued commodities across cultures and eras. But which precious metal is the very rarest? Let’s examine the relative global abundance of these prized elements to uncover the answer.
How Precious Metals Formed
Precious metals originated billions of years ago within stars through a process called stellar nucleosynthesis. As stars formed heavy elements through fusion reactions, supernovae explosions dispersed these elements across the universe. Precious metals eventually concentrated on Earth and other terrestrial planets as they formed and cooled. The relative abundance of precious metals on Earth depends on how readily they were produced within stars and dispersed into the cosmos.
Gold
Gold is forged within the cores of large stars through a process called rapid neutron capture (r-process nucleosynthesis). When a large star exhausts its nuclear fuel, its core collapses, creating a supernova explosion that scatters newly formed gold across space. Gold ranks among the rarest of metals found naturally on Earth. The total amount of gold ever mined totals around 190,000 tonnes, which would form a cube with sides of just 20.7 meters. Given its scarcity, nearly all gold ever mined is still in circulation.
Silver
Like gold, silver also forms through r-process nucleosynthesis during supernovae. Silver is significantly more abundant than gold, with around 1.6 million tonnes having been mined throughout history. Still, this is a relatively small global supply – a cube of all mined silver would only measure about 94 meters per side. Silver is found in small concentrations throughout Earth’s crust and must be extensively mined and processed to extract usable amounts of the metal.
Platinum
Platinum is believed to form when neutron stars collide. During these immensely powerful collisions, huge amounts of energy fuse atomic nuclei together to produce heavy elements like platinum. Only around 215 tonnes of platinum have been mined throughout human history. Mined platinum would form a cube with sides of just 8 meters. Platinum is 30 times rarer than gold and is highly concentrated in a few places on Earth, mainly South Africa and Russia.
Annual Production
While gold, silver, and platinum are all rare relative to Earth’s total supply, their current annual production provides insight into their relative global abundance. The more abundant the precious metal, the more tonnage tends to be mined each year.
| Precious Metal | Annual Mine Production (tonnes) |
|---|---|
| Gold | 3,200 |
| Silver | 27,000 |
| Platinum | 190 |
As we can see, silver has the highest annual mine production at 27,000 tonnes per year. Gold sits in the middle at 3,200 tonnes, while platinum is mined at just 190 tonnes annually.
Gold Production
While rare, gold’s unique properties and society’s fascination with the metal put it in high demand. Around 3,200 tonnes are mined globally each year. Top gold producing nations include China, Australia, Russia and the United States. Mines in these areas tend to be large open pit operations that process low concentrations of gold ore at high volumes. While more gold exists unmined in Earth’s crust, extraction becomes more energy and capital intensive as easily accessible supplies are depleted.
Silver Production
Silver’s widespread applications including photography, electronics, jewelry and medicine put it in high commercial demand even as digital photography wanes. Around 27,000 tonnes of silver are mined globally each year, over 8 times more than gold. Top producers include Mexico, Peru, China and Russia. While found across the globe, commercial silver mining is concentrated around major veins and deposits where natural geological processes have concentrated the metal.
Platinum Production
Platinum, the rarest of the three metals by annual production, is mined globally at around only 190 tonnes per year. Over 70% of the world’s platinum comes from South Africa, where geologic forces have concentrated vast platinum deposits over millions of years. Most platinum goes into catalytic converters for automobiles, as well as jewelry. Tighter emissions standards put platinum demand for converters at historic highs even as automotive innovation promises to reduce platinum catalyst dependence.
Reserves
Measuring remaining global precious metal reserves also provides insight into relative rarity. Reserves are deposits identified through exploration and sampling to determine profitable mining potential based on metal prices. As prices rise, lower grade deposits become economical, increasing reserves. Nonetheless, reserves demonstrate global rarity of precious metals in Earth’s crust.
| Precious Metal | Global Reserves (tonnes) |
|---|---|
| Gold | 54,000 |
| Silver | 530,000 |
| Platinum | 66,000 |
Gold reserves stand at 54,000 tonnes, meaning nearly all gold ever mined remains circulating. Identified silver reserves total 530,000 tonnes, about one third of the estimated 1.6 million tonnes mined throughout history. Platinum reserves total 66,000 tonnes, around one third of the 215 tonnes ever mined. Current platinum reserves at today’s production rates would last around 350 years, underscoring the metal’s extreme rarity.
Gold Reserves
Gold reserves are estimated at around 54,000 tonnes worldwide. Major gold reserve holders include Australia, South Africa, Russia, Indonesia and Brazil. As gold prices fluctuate, mines open and close depending on profitability. Nonetheless identifiable gold in Earth’s crust is dwarfed by silver and platinum reserves.
Silver Reserves
Identified global silver reserves total 530,000 tonnes. The country with the largest silver reserves is Poland, followed by Australia, Peru, China and Russia. New economically viable silver deposits are still being discovered as prices rise. However, the pace of new discoveries fails to keep up with mining depletion, pointing to peak silver in the not too distant future.
Platinum Reserves
The bulk of the world’s identifiable platinum reserves totaling 66,000 tonnes resides in South Africa’s Bushveld Igneous Complex. This geologic formation contains vast layers of platinum group metals concentrated by volcanic activity over billions of years. Russia also holds substantial reserves in the Norilsk-Talnakh area. Platinum reserves globally pale in comparison to gold and silver, underscoring its extreme scarcity.
Occurrence in Earth’s crust
Examining the abundance of precious metals in Earth’s crust provides another measure of rarity. While estimates vary, crustal abundance shows how infrequently these prized elements occur relative to more common metals and elements.
| Precious Metal | Abundance in earth’s crust (grams per tonne) |
|---|---|
| Gold | 0.004 |
| Silver | 0.08 |
| Platinum | 0.005 |
These concentrations demonstrate that precious metals occur in minute fractions of one gram per tonne of average crustal material. Silver appears approximately 20 times more abundant than gold or platinum. Gold and platinum occur in nearly equal rarity. This supports geological evidence that platinum possesses the greatest scarcity overall.
Gold in Earth’s crust
Estimates suggest gold occurs in Earth’s crust at around 0.004 grams per ton on average. However, crustal gold shows uneven distribution, with higher concentrations occurring in areas where geologic forces have leached, eroded and concentrated debris over eons. Gold’s rarity contributes to its value and difficulty of consistently locating profitable deposits.
Silver in Earth’s crust
Silver appears more abundantly in Earth’s crust than gold at approximately 0.08 grams per tonne. Silver also concentrates unevenly due to geologic processes, resulting in rare but rich deposits. Increased mining costs are incurred when mining lower grade deposits as richer finds become exhausted. Abundant silver deposits likely contributed to its early adoption as a monetary metal.
Platinum in Earth’s crust
Platinum is exceedingly rare in Earth’s crust, averaging around only 0.005 grams per tonne. Unlike gold and silver, platinum appears scarce even in concentrated deposits. Layered igneous formations like South Africa’s Bushveld Complex represent once in a billion year occurrences, making platinum fundamentally limited in accessibility. This extreme rarity drives platinum’s high value and demand.
Recycling
Since precious metals are relatively immutable and indestructible, recycling reduces the need for new mining. Precious metal recycling rates provide insight into global stocks and production. Higher recycling rates bolster supply and temper demand for newly mined metal.
| Precious Metal | Global Recycling Rate |
|---|---|
| Gold | 25% – 30% |
| Silver | 15% – 20% |
| Platinum | 10% – 15% |
Platinum has the lowest recycling rate at around 10% – 15%. Most platinum is consumed during industrial processes. Silver sees recycling rates of 15% – 20%, while gold is recycled at rates of 25% to 30%. Higher gold recycling results from easy recovery from jewelry and strong consumer awareness of precious metal value.
Gold Recycling
Around 1,000 tonnes of gold are recycled each year, representing over 30% of worldwide supply. Gold’s durability and resistance to corrosion allow it to be reused indefinitely. Jewelry, bullion, and electronics represent prime sources for reclaimed gold. Improved collection and processing technologies have increased recycling yields as easier to reach reserves become depleted.
Silver Recycling
Around 3,000 – 4,000 tonnes of silver are recycled annually. Silver readily alloys with other metals, necessitating costly separation during recycling. Much silver is lost to landfills and recovery can be difficult or unprofitable. However, new recycling techniques and strong prices have increased silver recovery from industrial processes and photographic film.
Platinum Recycling
Only around 10% of platinum is recycled each year. Catalytic converters and electronics represent the prime sources for reclaimed platinum. However, many applications involve industrial uses that disperse platinum particles irretrievably. While recycling technology has progressed, high temperatures and costly processing result in platinum recycling lagging far behind that of gold and silver.
Conclusion
When comparing abundance metrics like annual production, reserves, crustal occurrence and recyclability, platinum emerges as the rarest precious metal on Earth.
Platinum’s extreme scarcity is driven by its origins in rare stellar collisions, concentration in only a handful of sites worldwide, and broad use in industrial processes that render recovery difficult. This scarcity generates strong demand that propels platinum’s value higher than gold.
While gold captures the public imagination and silver’s affordability increases industrial demand, platinum stands apart as extraordinarily rare and precious amongst prestigious metals. Any emerging technologies that increase platinum supply or offer substitutes that reduce demand will be welcomed by industrial consumers struggling to source adequate platinum. For the foreseeable future, platinum will likely remain the most precious of the precious metals.