Here is a brief description of iridium. Image of a sample provided by Advent Research Materials Ltd . The name iridium is appropriate, for its salts are highly coloured.
Iridium is white, similar to platinum, but with a slight yellowish cast.
It is very hard and brittle, making it very hard to machine, form, or work. Strange Matter cartoon included by kind permission of Nick Kim at the University of Waikato , New Zealand. Here is a brief summary of the isolation of iridium. It would not normally be necessary to make a sample of iridium in the laboratory as the metal is available, at a price, commercially. The industrial extraction of iridium is complex as the metal occurs in ores mixed with other metals such as rhodium, palladium, silver, platinum, and gold.