From an ethical perspective, should I go for platinum or gold?
September 15, 2006 1:45 AM Subscribe
Gold has all sorts of ethical problems, but I have not heard anything about platinum. Is this just because it is rarer and more expensive (so I'm unlikely to come across it), or is it actually a morally better choice?
Actually scratch all of the above - it's titanium that RBM dig for ...duh, sorry. Not sure then where platinum comes from..
posted by Flashman at 4:24 AM on September 15, 2006
posted by Flashman at 4:24 AM on September 15, 2006
Most platinum is from Russia, followed by South Africa, the US, Canada and Zimbabwe. That is to say, much the same countries that mine gold. The refining process seems about as alarming as that of gold, and indeed gold is a by-product of the process. Not sure what your ethical issues are - environmental, political? Platinum may be problematic for you either way.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:28 AM on September 15, 2006
posted by IndigoJones at 5:28 AM on September 15, 2006
Gold has all sorts of ethical problems....
True, but no more than any natural resource, and far fewer than others (think "coal" or "diamonds".)
Platinum is better at something things -- it can handle high temperatures, and as a catalyst, it has made the air around the US vastly cleaner (Catalyitic Converters in cars use Pt meshes as a catalyst.) As part of the cisplantin compounds, it's one of the major cancer therapies.
As jewlery? Well, it's more wear resistant than gold, but it's silvery. It's value is almost all in the rarity of the metal, there's lots of silvery metals that look nice when you polish them. Platinum does have the advantage that, like gold, it doesn't tarnish in air, but sulfur compounds will tarnish it, so if you work downwind of the local coal powerplant, you might have issues.
The largest producer of Pt is South Africa, which, given the record it has with its gold, uranium and diamond mines, casts a pretty dark shadow. However, much of the Platinum we get here comes from Canada and the Western US.
posted by eriko at 5:43 AM on September 15, 2006
True, but no more than any natural resource, and far fewer than others (think "coal" or "diamonds".)
Platinum is better at something things -- it can handle high temperatures, and as a catalyst, it has made the air around the US vastly cleaner (Catalyitic Converters in cars use Pt meshes as a catalyst.) As part of the cisplantin compounds, it's one of the major cancer therapies.
As jewlery? Well, it's more wear resistant than gold, but it's silvery. It's value is almost all in the rarity of the metal, there's lots of silvery metals that look nice when you polish them. Platinum does have the advantage that, like gold, it doesn't tarnish in air, but sulfur compounds will tarnish it, so if you work downwind of the local coal powerplant, you might have issues.
The largest producer of Pt is South Africa, which, given the record it has with its gold, uranium and diamond mines, casts a pretty dark shadow. However, much of the Platinum we get here comes from Canada and the Western US.
posted by eriko at 5:43 AM on September 15, 2006
Response by poster: Thanks eriko and IndigoJones: that's the sort of information I'm after. I'm in the UK so SA or Russian platinum is more likely, I suspect.
posted by handee at 5:56 AM on September 15, 2006
posted by handee at 5:56 AM on September 15, 2006
If you're interested in jewelry, look into Tungsten or Tungsten Carbide. The former is about as dense as gold, the latter not quite so much but extremely hard. Neither is terribly expensive or ethically ambiguous.
If you want to make an investment, that's another matter. Why not put your money into the Grameen bank?
posted by Araucaria at 12:55 PM on September 15, 2006
If you want to make an investment, that's another matter. Why not put your money into the Grameen bank?
posted by Araucaria at 12:55 PM on September 15, 2006
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posted by Flashman at 4:21 AM on September 15, 2006