 Occurrence
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| In 2005, Russia was the top producer of palladium with atleast 50% world share followed by South Africa, USA and Canada, reports the British Geological Survey.
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| Palladium is found as a free metal and alloyed with platinum and gold with platinum group metals in placer deposits of the Ural Mountains, Australia, Ethiopia, South and North America. It is commercially produced from nickel-copper deposits found in South Africa (the Merensky Reef of the Bushveld Igneous Complex), Ontario (Lac des Iles igneous complex) and Siberia; the huge volume of ore processed makes this extraction profitable despite the
low proportion of palladium in these ores. The world's largest single producer of palladium is MMC Norilsk Nickel, headquartered
in Moscow.
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| It takes processing of many metric tons of cores to extract just one troy ounce of palladium. However, the mine production
could still be profitable, depending on current metal prices, as other metals are produced together: nickel, copper, platinum and rhodium.
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| Palladium is also produced in nuclear fission reactors and can be extracted from spent nuclear fuel, though the quantity produced
is insignificant.
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