Until l924, a gram or so constituted the world's supply of this element in isolated form. It is probably about as abundant as silver. About 4 million troy ounces of indium are now produced annually in the Free World. Canada is presently producincg more than 1,000,000 troy ounces annually. It is available in ultrapure form.
Indium is a very soft, silvery-white metal with a brilliant luster.
It wets glass, as does gallium. It is used in making bearing alloys, germanium transistors, rectifiers, thermistors, and photoconductors. It can be plated onto metal and evaporated onto glass, forming a mirror as good as that made with silver but with more resistance to atmospheric corrosion. Natural indium contains two isotopes. One is stable.