Iridosmine

Description

As this product forgoes the fancy display and is simply 0.1 grams of the mineral in its native state, this would make for one incredible sample for any element collector looking for the rarest elements as they’re found in nature!

The nomenclature for Iridosmine, Osmiridium, Rutheniridosmine, Iridian Ruthenium, Osmian Ruthenium, and Ruthenian Osmium can get a little confusing, and has been revised a few times in the last 60 years. It isn’t really important in this context, anyway, as it’s not exactly clear as to how this specific specimen can be called with its exact chemical composition unknown. But, it’s definitely one of those! And, assuming the previous owner either had these assayed or knew better, labeling these little crumbs as Iridosmine, it’s likely Iridium slightly is more abundant than Osmium, with a slight trace of Ruthenium. According to WebMineral, “Native Osmium” typically presents with around 25-63% Iridium, 31-75% Osmium, and as much as 5% Ruthenium, and these haven’t been assayed, so you’re likely looking at metal crystals that have a composition somewhere in that range!

Osmium has a hardness of 6-7 and a specific gravity of 22.48, and Iridium has a specific gravity of 22.65 – 22.84. Yes, you read that right. The two most dense metals. Ruthenium has a hardness of 6.5, and a specific gravity of around 12. Osmium has been found in around 308 localities worldwide to date, with around 100 in North America – some in Oregon, California, Nevada, and New Mexico, but none yet known to have been found in Colorado. It seems that most Osmium comes from Japan, Russia, South Africa, Columbia, Canada, and Australia, but there’s localities scattered all around the world on nearly every Continent. It’s also often found as an alloy in many Nickel and Platinum ores, as with other PGMs.

Smithson Tennant named these small crystals Osmium after the Greek “osme” meaning “a smell”, because of the chlorine-like and slightly garlic-like smell of the volatile osmium tetroxide he had isolated in 1803.

He also named Iridium “after Iris (Ἶρις), the Greek winged goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of the Olympian gods, because many of the salts he obtained were strongly colored,” according to Wikipedia. He surprisingly didn’t name Ruthenium, however, as it was discovered by Karl Ernst Claus 41 years later, naming it after his homeland – Russia.

Osmium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth’s crust, along with Iridium. And, while you can get a purified sample of a gram for around $80 on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3TyCrRo or an ounce of each element at https://www.Luciteria.com/Bullion for around $1,300 and $6,250, respectively, to find them as they’re found naturally is a bit harder to do, and this isn’t cheap!

Osmium is hard, and fragile, and isn’t used commercially for very many applications… yet. But, r/WallStreetOsmium took off after r/WallStreetBets took on GameStop, so if they’re right about Osmium, too, it may just be a good investment! And Iridium is already 3x the price of Gold! Regardless, be sure to keep your eye out for this nondescript silvery-looking metal the next time you’re out on a hike or panning a river!