Platinum-Group Elements

August 2008, Vol. 4, No. 4

The geoscientific and economic significance of the PGE is immense. Due to their extreme siderophile and chalcophile behaviour, the PGE are highly sensitive tracers of geological processes involving metal and sulfide phases. Furthermore, there are two radioactive decay series involving PGE, which combine both lithophile and chalcophile characteristics in various parent or daughter elements. PGE consequently offer insight into a wide range of geological processes that no other group of elements can provide. The PGE are also very important economically, primarily due to their “noble” character in common applications such as jewelry, electrodes, catalysts, and fuel cell technology. Unfortunately, the PGE are also bioavailable as potential toxins to organisms in the natural environment. Their widespread use, particularly in automotive catalytic converters, makes their environmental behavior a matter of increasing concern. This issue of Elements provides an overview of our current understanding of the distribution of PGE and their isotopes in the Earth and solar system, and what this knowledge tells us about the workings of our planet, about extraction of PGE resources, and about the environmental risks attendant on their use.

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