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Platinum nuggets this size are a rare find. This precious metal typically occurs as small grains and crystals in certain layered igneous rocks. It rivals gold in value and is used for jewelery as well as in industry, where it functions as a catalyst speeding many chemical reactions. Platinum is also used in high-temperature alloys and in automobile catalytic converters.
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Details
- Title: Platinum Nuggets
- Location: Ural Mtns.; Nizhniy Tagil, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, Asia
- Physical Dimensions: 56 mm x 45 mm x 2 mm
- Type: Mineral
- Rights: This image was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution. The image or its contents may be protected by international copyright laws. http://www.si.edu/termsofuse
- External Link: View this object record in the Smithsonian Institution Collections Search Center
- Weight: 444.4 g
- USNM Catalog Number(s): 73736
- Scientific Name: Platinum
- Photo Credit: Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History
- Field: Mineral Sciences
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