Primary Applications
Wear-resistant alloys, electrical contacts, specialized catalysts, scientific instruments
Mining Significance
Osmium is an extremely scarce platinum-group metal recovered as a minor coproduct during refining of PGE ores. It is not mined independently and occurs only in very low concentrations with other PGMs. Recovery depends on specialized refinery chemistry, and handling of oxidized osmium requires care because osmium tetroxide is highly toxic and volatile.
