What are Precious Metals?

Precious metals are rare and beautiful metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. They are among the most valuable resources in the world and are used to make jewellery and electrical equipment.

Chemically, precious metals don’t react with other metals. Gold, silver and platinum stay shiny.

Industrial precious metal mining can destroy landscapes, contaminate water supplies with mercury and cyanide, and contribute to the destruction of ecosystems.

Discover

Reduce

Find out how to reduce our use of precious metals

Reuse

Find out how to reuse precious metals

Recycle

Find out about recycling of precious metals

Activities

Metals Worksheets

Metals Worksheets KS1

Metals Worksheets KS2

Metals Worksheets KS3-4

Metals Worksheets: Home Activity

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Resource Limits

Find below several maps of the world showing where the main reserves of various precious metals are found.

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Mexico – the largest producer of silver in the world and home to four of the 25 largest silver mining companies.

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Peru has the world’s largest silver reserves (98,000 tonnes)

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China has the third largest reserves in the world (71,000 tonnes) and is also the third largest silver producer.

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Australia – most of the silver is sourced from galena, which is also mined for its lead content. Cannington Mine in Queensland is the largest silver and lead mine in the world.

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Russia is a top silver producer.

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Poland is one of the world’s biggest producers of silver.

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Bolivia and Chile both produce a lot of silver.

Global Issues

Climate Change
Sustainable Development Goals
Circular Economy
Gold is so rare that one ton of average rock contains only about eight pennies worth of gold.
Due to practices such as open pit mining and cyanide heap leaching, one estimate suggests mining companies generate about 20 tons of toxic waste for every 0.333-ounce gold ring.
In 2020, an estimated 380 metric tons of gold were produced in China, the world's largest producer of the metal.
Silver has long been used in the manufacture of coins, ornaments, and jewellery because of it's rarity, adaptability and low reactivity.
In 2005, around 2,470 metric tons of gold were produced worldwide. Since then, gold production has increased steadily to an estimated 3,200 metric tons in 2019
Silver has the highest known electric and heat conductivity of all metals and is used for making printed electrical circuits and as a coating for electronic conductors
Because platinum and other platinum metals usually aren't found in large amounts, they are often by-products from mining other metals.