why is iridium mined
Iridium is very hard and brittle and hardens other metals it is alloyed with, especially platinum. These alloys are used in spark plugs, electrical contacts, and high temperature crucibles. Biological Rating: No known benefits for life processes in plants or animals.btained From: Iridium is found in its pure native form and in osmiridium, a natural alloy of iridium and osmium. Iridium is mined from sulfide layers in mafic igneous rocks where it is present with other platinum-group elements.
A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, iridium is generally credited with being the second densest element (after osmium) based on measured density, although calculations involving the space lattices of the elements show that iridium is denser.ridium is one of the rarest elements in Earth's crust, with annual production and consumption of only three tonnes. 191 Ir and 193 Ir are the only two naturally occurring isotopes of iridium, as well as the only stable isotopes; the latter is the more abundant of the two.