Osmium is One of the Most Expensive Metals—And Mainly Kazakhstan Exports The Silver-White Element

While many yet envision Kazakhstan as the land of steppes and huge distances —and thank goodness, those romantic aspects of this vast land are still intact—Kazakhstan also sits atop one of the unmatched storehouses of mineral wealth found anywhere on the planet, including the rare element osmium.

Osmium? Yes, one of the most scarce metals associated with nickel mining boggles the imagination—for starters, this silvery-white metal commands over €36,000 an ounce... when it can be bought.

That’s roughly 20 times that of gold, which is usually defined as a “precious metal.” Well, except when osmium shows up at the party. Even gold will tarnish when osmium shows up.

Indeed, osmium is so rare that it is generally quoted by the gram, as in €1,300 per unit (per gram), befitting perhaps for the most dense of all metals.

It is another oddity that only a handful of nations produce osmium, and Kazakhstan alone exports the extremely hard metal that also casts an ethereal blue sheen.

Osmium may be a conversation starter, but it is only one indicator of several other, increasingly valuable ores that Kazakhstan’s incredible geology has to offer, including cobalt, chromium, lithium, niobium, nickel, tantalum, titanium, tungsten, platinum, and many others.

" Kazakhstan has 15 rare earth deposits, strategically important components of electronics and clean energy technology, and eyes for closer cooperation with international partners in uncovering the ample opportunities these deposits present", wrote in January The Astana Times.

It is bewildering to ponder all those people you see engrossed in their smartphones, in world capitals, are likely benefiting from tantalum extracted from underneath Kazakhstan.

Around the high-tech globe, many of these Kazakhstan metals are prized for uses in new technologies, such as electric vehicles, tech gadgetry and even large windmill blades.

Osmium itself is so costly it has limited applications, but most often is added to other already strong metals, such as tungsten and steel, to make super-hard alloys, sometimes for the medical industries.

Osmium is undoubtedly one of the more unusual and exotic metals mined in Kazakhstan, and perhaps not the most important economically. But osmium symbolizes the tremendous potential being developed in scarce metals vital to the functioning of modern economies—and your smartphone.

Seriously, of 34 elements recently designated as “critical materials” by the European Union, Kazakhstan produces 18. I am proud to say the nation and industry plan a major expansion of mining operations in the full range of vital metals to benefit my countrypeople and help make the world a more stable place.

So, the next time you see an EV whiz by, pick up a smartphone, or view a passing jet—remember that metals from Kazakhstan are helping to make such miracle technologies possible.